Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style
In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a lodging near JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist was touring America for the first time, drumming alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness takes over, coloring all with melancholy. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her gentle singing are delivered in a flat style, yet the record's tension stems from her keen writing—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs this year possess more potent storytelling style than "Shelly", which describes the killing of a deer and descends into a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of written pieces lit by glimpses of warped cello. Tense, quiet verses featuring echoing, strummed strings transition into expansive refrains, with Walton's vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences might already be familiar with the artist as a music creator, disc jockey, and member in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, like an ensemble taken by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM via a punishing, stunning, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed by a long-term partner, feel both gnarly and spiritual, while her dark, magical thinking culminate on highlight "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching gallows humor.
