Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
In the track "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, where the musician learns a devastating update of her father's illness diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist was touring the US for the first time, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed strings underscore dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her soft singing come across in a flat manner, while this album's tension stems from the sharp writing—blending stories, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many songs this year possess stronger novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written works illuminated by glimpses of distorted strings. Tense, subdued sections featuring echoing, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, and Walton's vocals digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and menacing.
Listeners may already know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands like Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like an ensemble caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM via a punishing, stunning, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed by a long-term collaborator, feel at once rough and spiritual, while Walton's dark, magical thoughts culminate on standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, exuding poignant dark comedy.
