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Within the song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a lodging near JFK airport, where the musician learns a heartbreaking news that her dad has illness diagnosis. This UK-raised artist had been touring the US for the first time, playing alongside indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly grief casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Unsteady keys and soft strings accompany dark reports emanating from the tour van: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Her soft vocals come across in a flat manner, yet the record's tension arises from the sharp writing—blending stories, traditional phrases, and direct personal notes—along with unexpected rich textures. Few tracks recently showcase more potent novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking literary pieces illuminated with flickers of distorted strings. Anxious, subdued sections with echoing, plucked strings move to grand refrains, with Walton's voice digitally manipulated to become something omniscient and menacing.

Listeners might previously be familiar with Walton as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member to bands like Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect her varied background. The first track "Sometimes" erupts with flourish, as if a string band caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" drastically ups the BPM via a punishing, stunning, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly mixed with a long-term partner, feel at once rough and spiritual, while her morbid, magical thinking culminate on standout "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, with heart-aching gallows humor.