Jennifer Walton's First Album "Daughters" Delves Into Grief and Elegance
Within this track "Miss America", audiences are placed in a lodging close to JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton learns a devastating update of her father's cancer discovery. This Sunderland-born artist had been traveling the US on her initial visit, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief takes over, coloring everything in grey. Faltering piano and soft orchestration underscore gothic reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."
Her gentle vocals come across in a flat manner, while this album's intensity arises from her keen writing—mixing fiction, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks recently showcase more potent novelistic style than "Shelly", which describes the death of an animal and descends toward a fuel-soaked reckoning, reminiscent of written works illuminated by glimpses of distorted cello. Tense, quiet sections with resonating, plucked guitar move into grand choruses, with Walton's vocals electronically altered into a presence omniscient and sinister.
Audiences might previously be familiar with Walton from her work as a music creator, disc jockey, and member to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, as if a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo with an intense, stunning, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced with a longtime collaborator, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, and her dark, magical thinking peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding poignant gallows humor.