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In the track "Miss America", audiences are placed inside a hotel room close to JFK airfield, where the musician learns a devastating update that her dad has illness discovery. This UK-raised performer was touring the US for the first time, playing with group Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Faltering keys and soft strings accompany dark reports from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her gentle singing are delivered with a flat manner, while the record's intensity arises from the keen writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—along with unexpected maximalism. Few songs this year possess more potent novelistic flair than "Shelly", a piece that depicts the death of an animal and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of literary works illuminated with flickers of warped cello. Anxious, quiet sections featuring resonating, plucked strings move into grand choruses, with her vocals electronically altered to become something all-knowing and sinister.

Listeners may already know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" bursts in fanfare, as if a string band caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM via an intense, stunning, looping drum fill. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed by a long-term partner, feel both rough and spiritual, while Walton's dark, magical thoughts culminate in standout "Lambs", which momentarily becomes a swirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she bargains, with poignant dark comedy.