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Within the song "Miss America", audiences are placed in a hotel room near JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton learns a devastating news that her dad has illness diagnosis. The Sunderland-born artist was touring the US for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly sadness takes over, coloring everything with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed orchestration accompany dark dispatches emanating from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's soft singing are delivered in a deadpan manner, while the record's tension arises from her keen penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—along with unexpected rich textures. Few songs recently possess stronger novelistic flair than "Shelly", a piece that depicts the killing of a deer and descends into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking written pieces lit by glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections with resonating, plucked guitar move into expansive choruses, with Walton's vocals electronically altered to become a presence all-knowing and sinister.

Audiences might previously be familiar with Walton as a music creator, disc jockey, and contributor to bands like Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on her diverse career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense layers of audio, expertly mixed by a long-term collaborator, feel both gnarly and ethereal, while Walton's dark, enchanted thoughts peak in standout "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, exuding heart-aching gallows humor.