The First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
In the song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging near JFK airfield, where the musician learns a devastating update of her father's illness diagnosis. This Sunderland-born performer was traveling America on her initial visit, drumming alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging all in grey. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration accompany dark reports emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft vocals are delivered with a flat style, yet this album's tension arises from the sharp writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—along with unexpected maximalism. Few songs recently showcase more potent novelistic style than "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and spirals into a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking written works lit with glimpses of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued verses featuring resonating, strummed guitar transition into grand refrains, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated to become a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences may previously be familiar with the artist from her work as a music creator, DJ, and member in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on her varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like an ensemble taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Thick layers of audio, expertly produced by a long-term collaborator, feel both rough and spiritual, while Walton's morbid, magical thinking peak on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with poignant gallows humor.
