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In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a lodging close to JFK airport, where the musician receives a devastating news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The UK-raised artist had been touring America for the first time, drumming with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness takes over, tinging all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed strings underscore gothic reports emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her soft singing are delivered in a deadpan style, while this album's tension arises from her sharp penmanship—blending fiction, traditional phrases, and direct diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many tracks this year possess more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the killing of a deer and descends into a fuel-soaked confrontation, evoking literary works lit with glimpses of distorted strings. Tense, quiet verses with resonating, plucked strings transition to expansive choruses, and Walton's vocals digitally manipulated into something all-knowing and menacing.

Listeners may already know Walton as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands such as Caroline. Daughters' musical twists draw on her diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with fanfare, as if a string band taken by surprise, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically increases the BPM via a punishing, stunning, repeating percussion. Thick layers of audio, skillfully produced by a long-term collaborator, seem both gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thinking peak in standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a twirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with poignant dark comedy.