Jennifer Walton's Debut Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance

In this track "Miss America", audiences are placed in a hotel room close to JFK airport, as the musician learns a heartbreaking update that her dad has illness discovery. This Sunderland-born artist was traveling the US for the first time, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, coloring all in grey. Unsteady piano and soft strings accompany dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's soft vocals come across in a flat style, yet the record's intensity arises from the sharp writing—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many tracks recently possess more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which depicts the killing of an animal and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking written pieces lit with flickers of warped strings. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked strings transition into expansive refrains, and her voice digitally manipulated to become a presence omniscient and sinister.

Audiences might already be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with flourish, as if an ensemble taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM via a punishing, stunning, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed by a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, enchanted thoughts peak in standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with poignant dark comedy.

Marissa Massey
Marissa Massey

A tech journalist and futurist with a passion for exploring how emerging technologies shape society and daily life.