Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Style
Within the track "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging close to JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton receives a devastating update that her dad has cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born performer was touring America for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly sadness takes over, coloring everything with melancholy. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her soft vocals are delivered with a flat manner, while this record's tension stems from her keen writing—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently showcase stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking literary pieces illuminated by flickers of warped strings. Anxious, subdued verses with echoing, strummed guitar move to expansive choruses, and Walton's voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and menacing.
Audiences might already know Walton as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands like Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on her diverse background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if a string band taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with a punishing, stunning, repeating drum fill. Thick walls of sound, expertly mixed with a longtime partner, seem at once gnarly and spiritual, while Walton's morbid, magical thoughts culminate in highlight "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, with poignant gallows humor.
