Preacher's Daughter
Cain poses for a picture, seated in a white dress beneath a picture of Jesus Christ.
Studio album by
Ethel Cain
ReleasedMay 12, 2022 (2022-05-12)
Recorded2018–2022
Genre
Length75:42
LabelDaughters of Cain
Producer
  • Ethel Cain
  • Matthew Tomasi
Ethel Cain chronology
Inbred
(2021)		 Preacher's Daughter
(2022)
Singles from Preacher's Daughter
  1. "Gibson Girl"
    Released: March 17, 2022
  2. "Strangers"
    Released: April 7, 2022
  3. "American Teenager"
    Released: April 21, 2022

Preacher's Daughter is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and record producer Ethel Cain, released on May 12, 2022, via her own record label, Daughters of Cain. It is a concept album that creates a narrative inspired by the artist's personal life as the daughter of a deacon and centered on fictional characters. Sonically, it experiments with folk music, Americana, slowcore, and other genres.

Upon release, the album was met with acclaim from music critics for its production, cohesiveness, storytelling, and songwriting, and many of them named it as one of the best albums of the year. It has also gained a cult following. To promote Preacher's Daughter, Cain embarked on her first two concert tours, the Freezer Bride Tour in 2022 and the Blood Stained Blonde Tour in 2023, through North America, Europe and Oceania.

Background

Hayden Silas Anhedönia developed an interest in music at a young age, as being involved in a church choir, while her father was a deacon, it was her first exposure to music.[1] She began studying classical piano at age 8, and her early influences were a variety of Christian music. She left the church at the age of 16.[2] Two years later, at the age of 18, after leaving her religious family home in Florida, she began her transition process and started writing her debut studio album.[3]

In 2017, she released "dreamy bedroom pop" demos of songs under different monikers.[4] Her first official release via streaming platforms was the extended play (EP) titled Colossus, in 2017, under the moniker Atlas, later changed to White Silas. With the latter, she released other four extended plays, between 2018 and the first half of 2019.[lower-alpha 1] In that year, she began her main project, Ethel Cain, with the EPs Carpet Bed and Golden Age.[9] After gaining prominence by releasing her third extended play under the moniker, Inbred (2021), especially with the song "Crush", which is "more of a pop song than her usual alternative style",[10] the singer announced the release of her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter, on March 17, 2022.[11]

Music and lyrics

Composition

Preacher's Daughter is a slowcore,[12] Americana,[13] folk,[14] ethereal,[15] and goth-pop[16] album with influences from dark ambient,[12] heartland rock,[12] classic rock,[12] cock rock,[17] sludge,[17] gospel,[12] industrial,[16] noise,[16] horror-electronica,[16] country and drone.[18]

Concept and songs

It is a concept album that draws on the artist's personal life as the daughter of a deacon, but creates a narrative "centered around the character Ethel Cain, who runs away from home only to meet a gruesome end at the hands of a cannibalistic psychopath."[19] The story is told over thirteen tracks, the first of which is introductory and features spoken word, as well as lines from track five, additionally adopting the name of that track. "Family Tree (Intro)" opens with a distorted recording of a Southern preacher, foreshadowing the religious themes to come.[12] "American Teenager" is a heartland rock,[13] country rock,[20] and ambient pop[21] song lead by synths and guitars that tells of teenage American nostalgia.[12] "A House in Nebraska" is an eight-minute torch song[17] featuring "angelic melodies, layers of reverb twisting around each other with dizzying clarity"[22] and ends with an arena rock guitar solo.[12] "Western Nights" is a pop rock song[19] about "a woman and her Harley-riding boyfriend crossing state lines, on the run from their past and still bearing family traumas."[13] "Family Tree" blends sludge and outlaw country as Cain "reveals the deadly agency her persona wields" as she reckons with "a genealogy marked by violence on all fronts".[12] "Hard Times" is a bedroom pop song[17] wherein "Cain admits to fearing how badly she wants to emulate the fatherly authorities in her life who brought her harm".[12] "Thoroughfare" is a country-inspired epic that "replaces the intensity of electric guitars with swelling vocals, reverberating drums and a cathartic whimsy," ending with a tambourine and scat singing jam session.[12] "Gibson Girl" "achieves a delicate mix of sultry and haunting"[12] with its "American-gothic eroticism" that shows the faults of the American Dream,[22] ending with another stadium rock guitar solo.[23]

The album's climax "Ptolemaea" is an industrial[13] doom metal song[17] named after the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno that houses Ethel Cain's namesake. "Horrifying and awe-striking", Cain "holler[s] with horror and anguish just as the guitars plunge into disarray and the occasional blast beat appears." The preacher from the intro returns to speak distorted incantations for the Daughters of Cain and "their whore mothers".[12] After "Ptolemaea" comes two instrumental tracks, "August Underground" and "Televangelism". The former is a doom-ambient track with low-register guitars and siren vocalizations[12] that is "meant to represent Cain’s attempted escape from, and ultimate death at the hands of, her murderous lover".[19] "Televangelism" is a piano-led piece drowned in reverb that, towards the end, becomes swallowed by tape hiss, highlighting the "artificiality" of televangelism and "allegorizing [Cain's] ascent to heaven.[12][19] "Sun Bleached Flies" is a country power ballad[17][12] that "wrestl[es] with the contradictions of organized religion"[19] Album closer "Strangers" is influenced by hair rock[24] and grunge that ends in "a swarm of energetic chaos",[22] with Cain now a "freezer bride" in her killer's basement and being cannibalised as she sends out one final message of love to her mother.[19]

Promotion

Cain performing at Gunnersbury Park for her concert tour Blood Stained Blonde Tour (2023)

Singles

Alongside the album's announcement, on March 17, 2022, Cain released the lead single of the album, "Gibson Girl".[25] The following month, "Strangers" and "American Teenager", the second and third single respectively, were released, with the latter gaining an accompanying video published in July.[26][27]

Live performances and tours

To promote the album, Cain hosted album release shows in Los Angeles and New York City, on May 18 and May 25, 2022, respectively.[28][29] She also performed live on KEXP,[30] and at WNXP's Sonic Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee.[31]

In June 2022, Cain confirmed via social media that she would be kicking off her first concert tour across the United States, titled the Freezer Bride Tour.[32] Weeks later, she announced several dates across Europe; in the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands and France.[32] She also embarked on the Blood Stained Blonde Tour in 2023.[33][34] It marked her Coachella Festival debut.[35] Cain also performed at various festivals such as Pitchfork Music Festival, Vivid Sydney, and Reading and Leeds Festivals, and was a supporting act for indie rock band Florence and the Machine's Dance Fever Tour,[36] American singer Caroline Polachek's Spiraling Tour,[37] and American indie supergroup Boygenius's The Tour.[38]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.2/10[39]
Metacritic82/100[40]
Review scores
SourceRating
Beats Per Minute[19]
Clash9/10[22]
Crack9/10[17]
DIY[23]
Gigwise[18]
The Guardian[16]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[24]
Paste[12]
Pitchfork6.4/10[13]
Sputnikmusic[41]

Preacher's Daughter received a score of 82 out of 100 based on eight reviews from media aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".[40] In a five-star review for DIY, Ben Tipple wrote that Cain "has an unparalleled power to drag you into her world" and called her "an autobiographical embodiment of escape, and of a fresh start".[23] Jessie Atkinson of Gigwise named Preacher's Daughter "an American epic" and that "Ethel Cain is only 24 and has already written something as striking and with as much potential for cultural impact".[18] Crack writer Emma Garland called Cain's voice "resplendent and seemingly infinite in register, and transforming this landslide of beauty and suffering into some of the most fearless songwriting in recent memory."[17]

Devon Chodzin of Paste, wrote that "where one may knock some of the power ballads for sameness, one might instead find consistency, an album grounded in the artist’s inspirations and narrative mission that is, above all, tantalizing. It is hard not to crave more."[12] The Line of Best Fit contributor Paul Bridgewater called the album "thematically a reckoning of salvation and oppression, all played out across the battlefield of religion and love. It's an ambitious undertaking for a first album, but Cain's success largely comes down to embracing the universal language of pop as her mother tongue and keeping a deft hand over all aspects of her work, as both songwriter and producer." Clash writer Oshen Douglas McCormick called it "a heart-wrenching collection of songs that urges the listener to give themselves over to this album as much as Ethel Cain gives herself over to you."[22]

In June 2022, Preacher's Daughter was listed as one of the best albums of the year so far by Gorilla vs. Bear.[42] In July 2022, Paste named "American Teenager" the best song of the year so far, with contributor Jacqueline Codiga describing it as "a deeply felt portrait of a doomed, yet hopeful character" and writing that it "has the stadium-sized scale, relatability and ambition to become the biggest song in the entire country".[43] Rolling Stone included "American Teenager" on its list of the most inspirational LGBTQ songs of all time.[44]

Year-end lists

Select year-end rankings of Preacher's Daughter
Publication List Rank Ref.
Crack Magazine Best Albums of 2022
1
 [45]
The Line of Best Fit The Best Albums of 2022 Ranked
1
 [46]
Sputnikmusic Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2022: 10 – 1
1
 [47]
Dazed The 20 Best Albums of 2022
2
 [48]
Clash Clash Albums Of The Year 2022
4
 [49]
The Ringer The 33 Best Albums of 2022
11
 [50]
Paste The Best Albums of 2022
12
 [51]
Flood Magazine The Best Albums of 2022
19
 [52]
Slant Magazine The 50 Best Albums of 2022
20
 [53]
The Guardian The 50 Best Albums of 2022
23
 [54]
Billboard Best Albums of 2022
46
 [55]

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Ethel Cain, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Family Tree" (Intro)  3:41
2."American Teenager"
 4:18
3."A House in Nebraska"  7:46
4."Western Nights"  6:05
5."Family Tree"  7:11
6."Hard Times"  5:03
7."Thoroughfare"  9:28
8."Gibson Girl"  5:42
9."Ptolemaea"
  • Cain
  • Matthew Tomasi
  • Cain
  • Tomasi
6:24
10."August Underground"
  • Cain
  • Tomasi
  • Cain
  • Tomasi
3:40
11."Televangelism"  3:03
12."Sun Bleached Flies"  7:36
13."Strangers"  5:44
Total length:75:42

Notes

  1. ↑ Attributed to multiple references:[5][6][7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Wally, Maxine (May 13, 2022). "Ethel Cain's America". W. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (April 20, 2021). "Ethel Cain Fears No Darkness". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  3. ↑ Daw, Stephen (May 12, 2022). "The Book of Ethel Cain: How the Alternative Phenom Built Up Her Own Reality Only to Tear It Down". Billboard. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  4. ↑ Kent, Matthew (February 11, 2021). "Ethel Cain reflects on the freedom of LA with revelatory new single "Michelle Pfeiffer"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Arcane Vessels - Album by White Silas". Spotify. May 21, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Sad Music for Sad People - Album by White Silas". Spotify. September 15, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Nightmares". October 31, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ "Mourning After". March 30, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  9. ↑ Walker, Sophie (May 11, 2022). "Hayden Anhedönia and the invention of Ethel Cain". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  10. ↑ Leasure, Haylee (June 30, 2023). "Haylee's Hub: Ethel Cain's 'Preacher's Daughter' is a life-changing album". The Post. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  11. ↑ Minsker, Evan (March 17, 2022). "Ethel Cain Announces Debut Album Preacher's Daughter, Shares New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Chodzin, Devon (May 11, 2022). "On Preacher's Daughter, Ethel Cain's Jarring, Beautiful Vision Comes to Life". Paste. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Rytlewski, Evan (May 18, 2022). "Ethel Cain: Preacher's Daughter Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  14. ↑ Castillo, Bree (May 13, 2022). "Hymnal Debut Album 'Preacher's Daughter'". Flaunt. Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  15. ↑ Hodgson, Jess (June 1, 2022). "Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter Review". Still Listening. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Aroesti, Rachel (May 13, 2022). "Ethel Cain: Preacher's Daughter review – evocative goth-pop with emotional heft". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Garland, Emma (May 11, 2022). "Ethel Cain: 'Preacher's Daughter' review". Crack. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  18. 1 2 3 Atkinson, Jessie (May 11, 2022). "Album Review: Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". Gigwise. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Williams, Tom (May 18, 2022). "Album Review: Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  20. ↑ Helfand, Raphael (April 21, 2022). "Ethel Cain drops new song "American Teenager" with visualizer". The Fader. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  21. ↑ L., Jasper (May 15, 2022). "Review: Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 McCormick, Oshen Douglas (May 18, 2022). "Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". Clash. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  23. 1 2 3 Tipple, Ben (13 May 2022). "Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter". DIY. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  24. 1 2 Bridgewater, Paul (May 11, 2022). "Ethel Cain builds a world of her own on the impressive debut Preacher's Daughter". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  25. ↑ McMuller, Chase. "Ethel Cain smolders across the gloriously slow burn "Gibson Girl", announces debut album". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  26. ↑ Leas, Ryan (April 7, 2022). "Ethel Cain – "Strangers"". Stereogum. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Watch Ethel Cain's "American Teenager" Music Video". Paste Magazine. July 21, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  28. ↑ "Ethel Cain – Hollywood Forever". hollywoodforever.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  29. ↑ Hatfield, Amanda (17 March 2022). "Ethel Cain announces debut LP, album release shows (hear new single "Gibson Girl")". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  30. ↑ "Ethel Cain [Performance & Interview Only] – Live on KEXP". omny.fm. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  31. ↑ Young, Emily (October 6, 2022). "Ethel Cain's Southern Gothic Debut Live at WNXP's Sonic Cathedral". WNXP 91.1 FM. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  32. 1 2 Raza-Sheikh, Zoya (July 18, 2022). "Ethel Cain has announced several UK and European tour dates". Kerrang. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Ethel Cain Extends 2022 North American Tour". Pitchfork. 2022-05-10. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  34. ↑ "Boygenius Has Announced Its First UK Tour, Including Dates With MUNA and Ethel Cain". Them. 2023-02-24. Archived from the original on 2023-03-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  35. ↑ "Gorillaz, Ethel Cain & More To Drop Exclusive Coachella Merch With YouTube". Nylon. 12 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  36. ↑ Arcand, Rob (December 9, 2022). "Ethel Cain Joins Florence and the Machine on New Version of "Morning Elvis": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  37. ↑ Aniftos, Rania (December 13, 2022). "Caroline Polachek Announces 2023 North American & European Tour". Billboard. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  38. ↑ Richards, Will (February 24, 2023). "Boygenius announce debut UK shows – including huge outdoor London gig". NME. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  39. ↑ "Ethel Cain Preacher's Daughter". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  40. 1 2 "Preacher's Daughter by Ethel Cain". Metacritic. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  41. ↑ L., Jesper (May 15, 2022). "Ethel Cain: Preacher's Daughter Album Review". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on August 27, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  42. ↑ Chris (June 7, 2022). "Our Favorite Albums + Songs From the First Half of 2022". Gorilla vs. Bear. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  43. ↑ Paste Staff (July 11, 2022). "The 50 Best Songs of 2022 (So Far)". Paste. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  44. ↑ "The 50 Most Inspirational LGBTQ Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  45. ↑ "Best albums of 2022: Our pick of the top records". Crack Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  46. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2022 Ranked". The Line of Best Fit. December 5, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  47. ↑ "Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2022: 10 – 1". Sputnikmusic. December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  48. ↑ "The 20 best albums of 2022". Dazed. December 16, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  49. ↑ "Clash Albums Of The Year 2022". Clash Magazine. December 15, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  50. ↑ Bereznak, Alyssa (6 December 2022). "The 33 Best Albums of 2022". The Ringer. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  51. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2022". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  52. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2022". Flood Magazine. December 12, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  53. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2022". Slant Magazine. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  54. ↑ Bugel, Safi; D'Souza, Shaad; Snapes, Laura (23 December 2022). "The 50 best albums of 2022". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  55. ↑ Johnson, Kristin (6 December 2022). "The 50 Best Albums of 2022: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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