🔗 Share this article

In this track "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room close to JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton receives a devastating news that her dad has cancer diagnosis. This Sunderland-born performer was traveling America on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness takes over, tinging all in grey. Faltering piano and hushed strings underscore dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle singing come across in a deadpan style, yet this record's tension stems from her keen penmanship—mixing fiction, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Few tracks recently possess stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", which describes the death of a deer and descends into a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written works illuminated by glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued verses featuring resonating, plucked guitar move to grand refrains, and her vocals digitally manipulated into something omniscient and menacing.

Audiences might previously be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect her diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like an ensemble caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, expertly mixed with a long-term partner, seem both rough and ethereal, and Walton's morbid, enchanted thinking peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton bargains, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.