The Debut Album "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Elegance

In this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a lodging near JFK airfield, as the musician receives the devastating news that her dad has cancer discovery. The Sunderland-born performer was touring the US on her initial visit, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady piano and soft orchestration accompany gothic reports from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her soft vocals are delivered with a flat style, while this record's intensity arises from the keen penmanship—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few songs this year possess more potent storytelling flair than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of an animal and spirals into a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking written pieces illuminated with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, strummed strings transition to grand refrains, with Walton's vocals digitally manipulated to become something omniscient and menacing.

Listeners may previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, beautiful, looping drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced by a long-term collaborator, feel at once rough and ethereal, and her morbid, magical thoughts peak in highlight "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.