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In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging near JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton learns the heartbreaking update that her dad has cancer diagnosis. This Sunderland-born artist had been traveling the US for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, tinging everything with melancholy. Unsteady piano and hushed orchestration underscore dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her soft vocals come across with a flat style, while this album's tension stems from the keen penmanship—mixing fiction, traditional phrases, and blunt diary entries—coupled with surprising rich textures. Few songs this year possess stronger storytelling style than "Shelly", which depicts the death of an animal and descends toward a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of literary pieces illuminated by glimpses of distorted cello. Tense, quiet verses with resonating, plucked strings transition to expansive choruses, with Walton's voice electronically altered to become something omniscient and sinister.

Listeners might previously know Walton as an electronic producer, DJ, and member to bands like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on her varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, like an ensemble taken by surprise, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense layers of audio, skillfully produced with a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, while her morbid, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", a song that briefly transforms into a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, exuding poignant gallows humor.