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In this song "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room near JFK airfield, where the musician learns a devastating update that her dad has illness diagnosis. The UK-raised artist was touring America for the first time, playing with indie band Kero Kero Bonito, and abruptly sadness casts a shadow, coloring all in grey. Faltering keys and hushed strings accompany gothic reports from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Strip-mall, drug deal, panic attacks."

Her soft vocals come across with a deadpan manner, yet the album's intensity stems from her sharp writing—blending fiction, folksy sayings, and blunt diary entries—coupled with unexpected rich textures. Not many songs recently possess stronger novelistic style than "Shelly", which describes the killing of a deer and spirals toward a petrol-laden confrontation, reminiscent of literary works illuminated with flickers of warped strings. Tense, subdued verses with resonating, plucked strings transition to grand choruses, and her vocals electronically altered to become a presence omniscient and menacing.

Audiences might already be familiar with Walton from her work as an electronic producer, disc jockey, and contributor in groups like Caroline. The album's sonic turns draw on this varied career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts with fanfare, as if a string band caught unawares, whereas "Born Again Backwards" radically increases the tempo via a punishing, beautiful, looping percussion. Dense walls of sound, skillfully produced with a longtime partner, feel at once gnarly and spiritual, and her dark, magical thoughts peak on highlight "Lambs", which briefly transforms into a swirling jig. "May your life never end in death," Walton pleads, exuding heart-aching dark comedy.