Jennifer Walton's Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within the song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the devastating update that her dad has illness diagnosis. This UK-raised performer had been traveling the US on her initial visit, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly sadness casts a shadow, coloring all with melancholy. Unsteady piano and soft strings accompany dark dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's gentle vocals are delivered in a flat style, while this record's tension arises from her keen penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Not many tracks recently possess stronger storytelling flair than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and spirals toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary pieces lit by flickers of warped cello. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, strummed guitar move to grand refrains, with her voice digitally manipulated into something omniscient and menacing.
Audiences may already know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if an ensemble caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the tempo via an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense layers of audio, skillfully produced with a long-term collaborator, feel at once rough and ethereal, while her morbid, magical thinking peak on standout "Lambs", which briefly becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, exuding poignant dark comedy.
