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In the song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room near JFK airport, where the musician learns a heartbreaking news of her father's cancer diagnosis. The UK-raised artist had been touring America on her initial visit, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, when abruptly grief takes over, tinging everything with melancholy. Faltering piano and soft orchestration accompany gothic reports emanating from the road: "Rural scenes and crumbling homes / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."

Walton's soft singing come across with a deadpan style, yet the record's tension stems from her keen penmanship—mixing stories, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many tracks this year possess more potent storytelling style compared to "Shelly", a piece that describes the death of an animal and descends toward a petrol-laden reckoning, evoking written pieces lit by flickers of warped strings. Anxious, subdued verses featuring echoing, strummed strings transition into grand refrains, and Walton's vocals electronically altered to become something omniscient and sinister.

Listeners may previously know Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and member in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this varied career. The opener "Sometimes" erupts in flourish, like a string band caught unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the BPM with a punishing, stunning, looping percussion. Thick walls of sound, skillfully produced with a long-term collaborator, seem both rough and ethereal, and her dark, enchanted thinking peak on highlight "Lambs", a song that momentarily becomes a twirling dance. "I hope your existence doesn't conclude with dying," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.