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Within this track "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a hotel room near JFK airfield, as the musician learns a heartbreaking news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The Sunderland-born performer was touring the US on her initial visit, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, coloring everything with melancholy. Unsteady piano and soft orchestration accompany dark reports emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her soft vocals come across in a deadpan manner, while the album's tension stems from the sharp writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—along with surprising maximalism. Few songs this year possess more potent storytelling style than "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends into a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of written works lit with flickers of warped strings. Anxious, quiet verses with echoing, strummed guitar transition into expansive refrains, with Walton's voice digitally manipulated into a presence omniscient and sinister.

Audiences might previously know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and member in groups like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, like a string band taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via an intense, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced by a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thinking peak on standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.