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Within the track "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room near JFK airport, as the musician learns a devastating update of her father's cancer discovery. The Sunderland-born performer was touring the US on her initial visit, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly sadness takes over, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and hushed strings accompany dark dispatches emanating from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Walton's gentle vocals are delivered with a flat style, while this album's intensity stems from her sharp writing—blending stories, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—along with surprising rich textures. Few songs recently possess more potent novelistic flair than "Shelly", which depicts the killing of a deer and spirals into a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of written works illuminated with flickers of distorted strings. Tense, quiet verses with resonating, plucked strings transition to expansive choruses, with her voice electronically altered into a presence all-knowing and menacing.

Audiences may previously be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member in groups such as Caroline. Daughters' sonic turns reflect this varied background. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with flourish, as if an ensemble caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM with an intense, stunning, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced by a long-term partner, seem at once rough and spiritual, and her dark, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which briefly becomes a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.