In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room close to JFK airport, as the musician learns the heartbreaking news that her dad has cancer discovery. The UK-raised performer had been traveling America on her initial visit, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, tinging everything with melancholy. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration accompany dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Her gentle vocals come across with a flat manner, while this album's tension stems from her keen writing—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Few songs this year showcase more potent storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of a deer and spirals into a fuel-soaked reckoning, evoking literary works lit by glimpses of distorted strings. Anxious, quiet verses featuring resonating, strummed strings move into expansive refrains, and her voice electronically altered to become something omniscient and menacing.
Audiences may previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect her varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, as if a string band taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo with a punishing, stunning, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, skillfully mixed by a long-term partner, feel both gnarly and spiritual, while Walton's morbid, magical thoughts peak on highlight "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a twirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with poignant gallows humor.
