Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Explores Sorrow and Style
Within this song "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a hotel room near JFK airport, as Jennifer Walton learns a heartbreaking news that her dad has cancer discovery. The UK-raised performer had been touring America on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief takes over, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration accompany gothic dispatches from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's gentle vocals are delivered in a flat manner, while the record's tension arises from her sharp penmanship—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks this year showcase stronger novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking written pieces lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, quiet verses with echoing, plucked strings move to expansive refrains, and her voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and menacing.
Audiences might already be familiar with the artist from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and member to bands like Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on her varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if a string band caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with a punishing, stunning, repeating drum fill. Dense layers of audio, expertly produced with a long-term partner, seem both rough and ethereal, and her dark, enchanted thinking culminate in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a twirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton bargains, with poignant gallows humor.
