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Within the track "Miss America", listeners are placed inside a lodging near JFK airfield, where Jennifer Walton receives the heartbreaking news that her dad has illness discovery. The Sunderland-born artist was touring the US for the first time, playing alongside group Kero Kero Bonito, when suddenly grief takes over, tinging everything in grey. Unsteady keys and soft orchestration underscore gothic reports from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's soft vocals are delivered with a flat style, yet the album's intensity stems from the keen writing—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt personal notes—coupled with surprising rich textures. Few songs this year showcase stronger storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of a deer and spirals into a petrol-laden reckoning, reminiscent of literary pieces lit with glimpses of distorted cello. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked guitar transition into expansive choruses, with her voice electronically altered to become something omniscient and sinister.

Audiences may previously be familiar with the artist as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor to bands such as Caroline. The album's musical twists reflect this varied background. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, like a string band taken unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM via an intense, beautiful, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced with a longtime partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thinking peak on highlight "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a swirling jig. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," she pleads, with heart-aching dark comedy.