Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton receives a heartbreaking news that her dad has cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born performer had been traveling America on her initial visit, drumming alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness casts a shadow, coloring everything with melancholy. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration accompany dark reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Walton's gentle singing are delivered with a deadpan manner, yet the album's intensity arises from her sharp penmanship—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Few tracks this year showcase stronger storytelling flair than "Shelly", which describes the killing of a deer and descends into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking literary pieces illuminated by flickers of warped strings. Tense, quiet verses featuring resonating, strummed strings transition into expansive choruses, and her vocals digitally manipulated to become something all-knowing and sinister.
Audiences may previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect her varied career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with flourish, as if an ensemble caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, skillfully mixed with a long-term collaborator, seem both rough and ethereal, and her morbid, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching dark comedy.
