Dazed Mix: Jennifer Walton

This month’s mix comes to us courtesy of Jennifer Walton, whose nostalgic blend of demo recordings and fairground samples conjures sleepy memories of distant memories. “I really love demos; they have this almost parasocial edge to them – recorded quickly and carelessly, just to capture an idea before it’s ‘finished’ later,” confides Walton. The British songwriter and producer first came onto our radar as a live member of Kero Kero Bonito – she’s a member of singer Sarah Midori Perry’s solo project Cryalot – and a part-time producer at NTS. A beloved figure in London’s alternative underground circuit, she’s worked with the likes of Iceboy Violet and BABii. She’s also a member of the newly formed trio Microplastics, alongside aya and 96 Back, who’ve been microdosing their twisted hardcore across mixes and appearances at London’s beloved Ormside Projects. 

Walton’s highly anticipated solo album, Daughters, introduces listeners to a softer, more intimate side to her music, which she describes as “Northern England Americana”. Weaving between real life diary entries, travelogue-style storytelling, the album is in part informed by Walton’s father’s cancer diagnosis – the subsequent devastation weaves delicately throughout the record, in tracks like “Miss America” (“Strip mall, drug deal, panic attacks / From my medicines co-pay / I’m Miss America for a day”) and “Saints”, where she recounts taking her father to and from cancer research trials, “sat, hunched and sick in the concourse as minutes became hours”. In the creation process, Walton recounts sealing herself away “like an Ableton-using Hildegard von Bingen”. Deeply personal and a transcendental listen in its purest form. 

Listen to the exclusive Dazed mix above, and read on for a conversation with Walton herself. 

Can you tell us a little about what we can expect on Daughters? What are some of the ideas underpinning it?

Jennifer Walton: I made Daughters between 2022 and 2024, with many of the demos floating around as tiny, disparate ideas written in my old spare room studio at my dad’s place. This was before I hermetically sealed myself away and shaped them into an album. It sets out to describe the complexities of grief and the overlapping emotions of that time – its effects on my body, my memories, and how our own stories shape ourselves and our relationships with others in real time. I’ve also described parts of it as ‘Evil Arcade Fire’ or ‘Northern England Americana’, so take that as you will.

You've been making music as Microplastics lately with aya and 96 Back (love the name). Can you tell us about that / how it got started?

Jennifer Walton: Myself, aya and Evan (96 Back) have been best friends for a long time and started sharing a studio around 2023. All of our creative practices have evolved alongside each other, and it just naturally happened that we started writing together. We all have similar feelings towards ‘the club’, relative sobriety, and being very silly – so I’m very excited to see what’s in store for the future.

How important is collaboration to you?

Jennifer Walton: In some ways, collaboration feels really similar to how I feel socially – intense periods of working with others to bring their ideas to life, before I seal myself away to recover and work on my own bits, like an Ableton-using Hildegard von Bingen. A lot of my earliest music work was on short films, so I feel like I really cut my teeth on interpreting and actualising other people’s ideas.

In the context of the album, the actual writing process became so intense that without some of my closest friends (aya, Daniel S. Evans, etc.), it just wouldn’t have been possible to finish it. It felt like a fitting metaphor for grief itself – giving yourself over to the care of others.

What are some of your earliest music memories?

Jennifer Walton: I was raised by my mum, who wasn’t all that interested in music. However, we had the CD single for Björk’s “It’s Oh So Quiet,” and I vividly remember dancing around the kitchen with her to that. Compared to what I’d heard before, it was the most overwhelming, technicoloured song I’d ever experienced, and I remember feverishly listening to it back to back to back, with my senses getting overwhelmed by it every time… also, maybe seeing The Tweenies live.

What’s the best and worst advice you’ve ever received?

Jennifer Walton: Best is aya teaching me how to properly gain-stage my mixes while smoking a cigarette out of a window at Dan’s house at 6am post-Rye Wax in 2017. The worst is aya teaching me how to properly gain-stage my mixes while smoking a cigarette out of a window at Dan’s house at 6am post-Rye Wax in 2017.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Jennifer Walton: So much of the new Wednesday record. I’m really obsessed with Karly’s music and the Asheville, NC scene in general. Between her and MJ Lenderman, they’ve made up my AOTYs for the past three years. I’ve also been listening to lots of synth-focused library music from Bruton, theme park ambience recordings, and lots and lots of ASMR.

Tell us about your Dazed mix.

Jennifer Walton: The mix is focused on nostalgia and music that feels like a memory – intentionally or not. It includes lots of library music and bits from closed-down Disneyland rides. A lot of the music is home-recorded or demo versions from artists known for their studio work. I really love demos; they have this almost parasocial edge to them – recorded quickly and carelessly, just to capture an idea before it’s “finished” later. I think that’s best felt in the Brian Wilson “I Feel So Fine” recording – it truly breaks my heart every time.

How were you feeling when you made it?

Jennifer Walton: I was feeling pretty sleepy, in a nice way. I’d just come off the back of a very intense week prepping for a show, and being able to look out my window at the storm hitting the trees while selecting the best tracks from EPCOT felt very restorative. I hope you enjoy it.

TRACKLIST 

Morgan Fisher – “Gymnopedie No. 1 (Sugar Plum Piano, Water Bell Synthesizer)”

Isao Tomita – “Arabesque No. 1”

Brian Laurence Bennett – “The Cornfield” (From Bruton Music’s – “Nature watch”)

George Wilkins – “General Electric Sparkling End Music” (From Horizons, Epcot Center)

George Wilkins – “Futureport” (From Horizons, Epcot Center)

Tony Hymas – “Coloured Candles” (From Bruton Music’s – “Kids & Cartoons”) 

Dorian Concept – “Forever Tired”

음악가 새들 SÆDEÜL – “Piano Loop”

Brian Wilson – “I Feel So Fine” (From “The Cocaine Sessions”)

Scoutmaster – “November”

Les Rallizes Denudes – “But I Was Different”

Julia Holter – “Evening Mood (Live at EartH)”

Joni Mitchell – “God Must Be A Boogie Man”

MJ Lenderman – “Grief”

Prefab Sprout – “Couldn’t Bear To Be Special (Paddy Mcaloon Demo)”

Lou Reed – “Men of Good Fortune (May 1965 Demo)”