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In the track "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a lodging close to JFK airport, as Jennifer Walton learns a heartbreaking news of her father's illness diagnosis. The UK-raised artist was touring the US for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed strings accompany gothic dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her gentle singing are delivered with a deadpan manner, yet the album's intensity arises from the keen penmanship—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising maximalism. Few tracks recently showcase more potent novelistic style compared to "Shelly", which depicts the death of a deer and descends into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking literary works illuminated with flickers of warped cello. Tense, subdued sections featuring resonating, strummed strings transition into expansive choruses, with Walton's voice digitally manipulated into something all-knowing and menacing.

Audiences may previously be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor to bands like Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, like a string band taken by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a longtime collaborator, seem at once gnarly and ethereal, while Walton's morbid, enchanted thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a twirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.