Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance

Within this song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging close to JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton receives the devastating news that her dad has cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born performer was traveling America on her initial visit, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief casts a shadow, tinging all with melancholy. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration accompany dark reports from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's soft singing are delivered in a flat style, yet this record's intensity arises from her keen penmanship—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—along with unexpected maximalism. Not many tracks this year possess more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces illuminated with flickers of distorted cello. Anxious, quiet verses with echoing, strummed guitar transition into grand refrains, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated to become a presence all-knowing and menacing.

Listeners might previously be familiar with the artist as a music creator, DJ, and member in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on her diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, as if a string band caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the tempo via a punishing, stunning, looping drum fill. Thick layers of audio, expertly mixed with a longtime partner, seem both gnarly and ethereal, and her morbid, magical thinking peak in highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, with poignant dark comedy.

Madison Nunez
Madison Nunez

A tech journalist and digital strategist passionate about emerging technologies and their impact on everyday life.