Daughter – Not To Disappear (Album Review)

It’s the second full-length album from the London-based trio led by Elena Tonra. Darker and more intense than its predecessor, Not To Disappear is not for the faint of heart.

Daughter’s second album finds singer/lyricist Elena Tonra digging deep into her psyche, stringing together couplets that sound as if they were borne either from dreams or a trance.

The 10-song collection begins with New Ways, its swelling synth and pinging electronica ushering Tonra’s ethereal vocal. “”Washed out brain, I have a dirty mind; oh I need new ways to waste my time”.

This and several other tracks explore feelings of loneliness, emotional distance and, of course, dysfunctional relationships.

But it’s not all fun and games.

The most potent song is Doing The Right Thing, a sad, haunting tune in which Tonra imagines herself as an aging Alzheimer’s patient. Lyrics such as, “I’m just fearing one day soon I’ll lose my mind, then I’ll lose my children, then I’ll lose my love, then I’ll sit in silence”. The stark, fragile melody only adds to the melancholy.

After the U2-ish How, they follow with Mothers, another crushingly depressing song where Tonra cheerily anticipates the arrival of her new-born ready to be, “the provider of that constant sting they call love”.

On Alone/With You, Tonra makes a list of things she hates…sleeping alone, living along, being alone…before telling herself, “I should get a dog, or something”.  At this point it’s difficult to tell if she’s joking or not. Certainly a bit of humour would go a long way at this point.

Meanwhile bandmates Igor Haefeli and Remi Aquilella generate appropriate dour soundscapes constructed from Joy Division-like guitar lines and skittering electronic percussion.

No Care raises the beats per second rate, but instead of dancing, Tonra confesses that she, “only knows how to flail”.

The following track, To Belong, finds the singer attempting to wriggle out of a relationship. “Don’t you think you’ll be better off without me tied around your neck”, she sings, while trying to avoid “fake tenderness”.

By the time you get to Made Of Stone, you may feel like a wriggling bowl of emotional jelly, meanwhile Elena wonders,” what if I’m made of stone”, then decides, “I should be feeling more”.

Depending on your mood, this can be pretty rough going. There is plenty to admire about Not To Disappear, but I suggest experiencing it in small doses, unless accompanied by a doctor.

Marty Duda

Click here to listen to Mothers from Not To Disappear: