Jennifer Walton's Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
In this track "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a lodging near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton receives the devastating update that her dad has cancer diagnosis. The UK-raised performer was traveling America on her initial visit, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady keys and hushed strings accompany dark reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's gentle vocals come across with a flat manner, while this album's tension stems from the keen writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—along with surprising rich textures. Not many songs this year showcase more potent storytelling style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of a deer and spirals into a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking written works lit with glimpses of warped strings. Anxious, quiet verses featuring resonating, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated into something omniscient and sinister.
Audiences might previously know the artist as a music creator, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on her varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, as if an ensemble taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo with a punishing, stunning, repeating drum fill. Dense layers of audio, skillfully produced with a longtime partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, while her dark, magical thinking culminate in highlight "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.
