🔗 Share this article Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Explores Grief and Elegance Within this song "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a lodging close to JFK airport, where the musician receives a devastating news of her father's illness discovery. This Sunderland-born artist was touring America on her initial visit, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging all with melancholy. Faltering keys and soft strings accompany dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks." Her gentle singing come across in a deadpan manner, while the album's tension arises from the keen penmanship—blending stories, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs recently possess stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the killing of an animal and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of written works illuminated by flickers of distorted strings. Tense, quiet verses with echoing, strummed strings transition into grand choruses, and her vocals digitally manipulated to become something omniscient and sinister. Audiences might previously be familiar with Walton from her work as a music creator, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect this diverse background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with flourish, like a string band taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the tempo with an intense, stunning, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced with a long-term collaborator, seem both gnarly and ethereal, while Walton's morbid, enchanted thinking culminate in highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.