Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Explores Grief and Elegance
Within this track "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a hotel room near JFK airport, as Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness discovery. This Sunderland-born performer was traveling the US on her initial visit, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief takes over, tinging everything with melancholy. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration accompany gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's soft singing are delivered with a flat style, while this record's tension stems from her keen writing—blending stories, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks this year showcase stronger novelistic style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends into a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces lit by flickers of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections featuring echoing, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, and her vocals electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences might previously be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor in groups like Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if an ensemble caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, stunning, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, skillfully mixed with a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, enchanted thoughts culminate in highlight "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.
