Jennifer Walton's Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within this track "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a lodging close to JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking update of her father's illness diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist had been traveling America for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness casts a shadow, tinging all in grey. Unsteady piano and hushed strings underscore dark dispatches from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft singing are delivered with a flat style, while this album's tension arises from the keen writing—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few tracks recently showcase stronger novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking literary pieces lit with glimpses of warped strings. Tense, quiet verses featuring echoing, strummed strings transition to expansive refrains, with her vocals digitally manipulated into a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences might already be familiar with Walton from her work as a music creator, DJ, and member in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect her diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, as if a string band taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced with a long-term partner, seem both rough and spiritual, and Walton's morbid, magical thinking culminate on highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.
