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In this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves inside a hotel room close to JFK airport, where Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking news of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised performer was touring the US for the first time, drumming alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Faltering piano and soft strings underscore gothic dispatches emanating from the road: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's soft singing are delivered in a deadpan style, while this record's intensity stems from her keen writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently showcase more potent novelistic style than "Shelly", which depicts the death of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking literary works lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, quiet verses with resonating, plucked strings move into expansive choruses, and Walton's voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and menacing.

Audiences might previously be familiar with the artist from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands like Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect her varied career. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, as if an ensemble caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with a punishing, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick walls of sound, expertly mixed by a longtime collaborator, seem at once gnarly and spiritual, while Walton's dark, enchanted thoughts peak on standout "Lambs", a song that briefly becomes a twirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, with poignant dark comedy.