Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Style
Within this song "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a hotel room near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the devastating update of her father's illness discovery. This UK-raised performer had been touring the US for the first time, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief takes over, coloring all with melancholy. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration underscore gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her soft singing come across in a flat manner, while the record's intensity stems from her keen penmanship—mixing fiction, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—along with unexpected rich textures. Few tracks this year showcase more potent storytelling style than "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and spirals into a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces illuminated with glimpses of warped cello. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked guitar transition into grand choruses, with Walton's voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and sinister.
Listeners might previously know Walton as a music creator, DJ, and member in groups like Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns draw on her varied career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, like an ensemble caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via an intense, stunning, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, skillfully mixed with a long-term partner, seem at once gnarly and ethereal, while her dark, enchanted thinking peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, with poignant dark comedy.
