🔗 Share this article

Within this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, as the musician learns the devastating news that her dad has illness discovery. This UK-raised artist was touring the US for the first time, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief takes over, tinging everything in grey. Faltering keys and soft orchestration underscore dark dispatches emanating from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle vocals are delivered in a flat style, yet the album's tension arises from the keen writing—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks recently possess stronger storytelling style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of an animal and spirals into a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written works lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued verses featuring resonating, plucked guitar transition into grand refrains, and her vocals digitally manipulated into something omniscient and menacing.

Listeners may previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like a string band taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM via an intense, stunning, repeating drum fill. Thick layers of audio, expertly produced by a longtime partner, seem at once rough and ethereal, and Walton's morbid, magical thinking peak in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," Walton bargains, with poignant dark comedy.