🔗 Share this article

In the song "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, where the musician receives a devastating update of her father's illness discovery. The UK-raised performer had been touring the US for the first time, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness takes over, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration underscore gothic dispatches from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her gentle singing are delivered with a flat style, while the album's intensity arises from her sharp writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising rich textures. Not many tracks recently possess stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals toward a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Tense, subdued sections with echoing, plucked guitar transition to grand choruses, and her voice electronically altered into something all-knowing and menacing.

Audiences may already know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like an ensemble taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM via a punishing, stunning, looping percussion. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed with a longtime partner, feel both gnarly and spiritual, while Walton's dark, enchanted thinking peak in highlight "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.