🔗 Share this article

In the track "Miss America", listeners find themselves in a lodging close to JFK airfield, as the musician receives a heartbreaking update of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised performer had been touring America for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, tinging everything in grey. Faltering keys and hushed strings underscore gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her soft vocals come across in a flat manner, yet this album's tension stems from her keen penmanship—blending stories, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—along with surprising maximalism. Few songs recently showcase stronger storytelling style than "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of literary works lit by glimpses of distorted strings. Anxious, quiet verses with echoing, plucked guitar transition to grand refrains, and Walton's vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and menacing.

Listeners may previously know Walton from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on this varied career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if a string band caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM with an intense, beautiful, looping drum fill. Thick layers of audio, skillfully produced with a long-term collaborator, seem both rough and spiritual, while her dark, enchanted thoughts peak on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.