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Within the song "Miss America", audiences find themselves in a lodging close to JFK airport, where the musician receives the heartbreaking news of her father's cancer discovery. The UK-raised performer had been touring the US for the first time, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring everything in grey. Unsteady piano and soft strings accompany gothic dispatches from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle singing are delivered in a flat style, yet the album's tension arises from her sharp penmanship—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and direct personal notes—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Few songs recently possess more potent novelistic style compared to "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of a deer and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking written pieces lit by glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections featuring resonating, plucked guitar move to expansive refrains, and Walton's voice digitally manipulated into something all-knowing and menacing.

Audiences may previously know the artist as an electronic producer, DJ, and member to bands like Caroline. Daughters' musical twists reflect her varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, as if an ensemble caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM with an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Thick walls of sound, expertly mixed by a longtime collaborator, seem both gnarly and spiritual, while her dark, magical thoughts culminate on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching gallows humor.