Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within the song "Miss America", listeners find themselves in a hotel room close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns the devastating update that her dad has cancer discovery. This Sunderland-born artist had been traveling the US on her initial visit, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging everything in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration underscore gothic reports from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft vocals are delivered in a deadpan style, yet this record's intensity stems from her keen writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—coupled with surprising rich textures. Not many tracks recently possess more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and descends toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of written works lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued verses with resonating, plucked guitar transition into grand refrains, and Walton's vocals electronically altered to become a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Listeners might already be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect her varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, like an ensemble taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, skillfully mixed with a long-term partner, seem at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, enchanted thoughts peak in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.