🔗 Share this article

Within the track "Miss America", listeners find themselves inside a lodging near JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist had been traveling America on her initial visit, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly sadness takes over, tinging everything in grey. Faltering keys and hushed orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her gentle singing are delivered in a deadpan style, while this record's tension arises from the sharp writing—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected maximalism. Few songs recently possess more potent storytelling flair than "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and descends toward a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces lit by glimpses of warped strings. Tense, quiet sections with echoing, strummed guitar transition to expansive refrains, with her vocals digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and menacing.

Listeners may already be familiar with Walton as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's musical twists draw on her diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if a string band caught by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM via an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced with a longtime collaborator, feel at once rough and spiritual, while Walton's morbid, enchanted thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she pleads, with heart-aching gallows humor.