The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Style
Within the song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a hotel room near JFK airfield, as the musician learns a heartbreaking update of her father's illness discovery. This Sunderland-born artist had been touring the US on her initial visit, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness takes over, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady piano and soft strings accompany gothic reports from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her soft singing are delivered with a flat manner, yet the album's intensity arises from her sharp writing—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Not many songs recently possess stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and spirals into a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces illuminated by flickers of warped strings. Tense, quiet verses featuring resonating, strummed strings move into grand refrains, and her voice digitally manipulated to become a presence omniscient and menacing.
Listeners might already know Walton as a music creator, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect her varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, as if a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo via a punishing, stunning, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a long-term collaborator, seem both gnarly and ethereal, and her dark, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, with poignant gallows humor.
