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In this track "Miss America", audiences are placed in a hotel room close to JFK airport, where the musician receives the devastating update of her father's cancer diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist was traveling America on her initial visit, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging everything with melancholy. Unsteady keys and hushed orchestration accompany gothic dispatches from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's soft vocals come across with a flat manner, while this record's tension stems from her keen writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—along with surprising rich textures. Few songs recently possess more potent novelistic flair than "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals into a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of literary works lit by flickers of distorted strings. Anxious, quiet sections featuring echoing, strummed guitar transition to grand refrains, and her vocals electronically altered into something omniscient and menacing.

Audiences may previously be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, like a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the tempo via an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Thick walls of sound, expertly mixed by a longtime partner, seem both gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching dark comedy.