Jennifer Walton's First Record "Daughters" Explores Grief and Style

Within the song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging close to JFK airport, as the musician receives the heartbreaking news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist had been traveling the US for the first time, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief takes over, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and soft strings accompany gothic dispatches emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her soft singing come across with a deadpan manner, yet this record's intensity arises from her keen writing—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently possess more potent novelistic flair than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking written works lit with flickers of warped cello. Anxious, quiet sections with resonating, plucked guitar transition to grand refrains, and her vocals electronically altered into something all-knowing and sinister.

Audiences may already be familiar with Walton as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands like Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like an ensemble caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo with an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Thick layers of audio, expertly produced by a long-term partner, seem both rough and spiritual, and her dark, enchanted thinking peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.

Elizabeth Alvarez
Elizabeth Alvarez

Elara is a seasoned strategist with over a decade of experience in corporate leadership and military tactics.