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In this song "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a hotel room near JFK airport, as the musician receives the heartbreaking update that her dad has cancer discovery. This UK-raised artist was touring America on her initial visit, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything with melancholy. Faltering piano and hushed strings accompany dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her soft vocals are delivered in a deadpan manner, while the record's intensity arises from the sharp penmanship—mixing stories, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—along with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks recently possess more potent storytelling flair than "Shelly", which describes the death of a deer and descends toward a fuel-soaked confrontation, reminiscent of written pieces lit with glimpses of warped cello. Anxious, subdued sections featuring echoing, plucked strings transition into grand choruses, and her vocals digitally manipulated to become a presence omniscient and sinister.

Audiences might already know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect her diverse background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts in fanfare, as if a string band caught by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the tempo with a punishing, beautiful, repeating drum fill. Dense walls of sound, skillfully mixed with a long-term partner, feel at once gnarly and ethereal, and Walton's morbid, enchanted thinking culminate in standout "Lambs", which briefly becomes a swirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, with poignant dark comedy.