When an artist becomes mainstream, well known by a large population of people, it can feel like a gripping success. Yet, there is a fear to becoming famous, where you are no longer a person, instead a figure of obsession. Your privacy becomes invaded and your work misinterpreted. This sentiment can apply to a multitude of artists, including Hayden Anhedönia, who may be better known to the masses as Ethel Cain.
In 2022, Anhedönia released Preachers Daughter, her 13 track debut album, a conceptual album with a southern-gothic sound that follows the character Ethel Cain through her troubling life, and eventually to her grotesque death. Preachers Daughter, though thematically harrowing, was swift to become critically acclaimed, and became a driving force for Anhedönia to be nominated under Best New Artist for the 2023 Grammys. The success of Preachers Daughter led to the album becoming ‘mainstream’, or at least put on people's radars, and becoming drastically mischaracterized. This was seen heavily with track ‘American Teenager’, with it birthing TikTok trends and Obama putting it on his top songs of 2022- although the track is a direct commentary on the American Dream.
Anhedönia has expressed her wish for a “much smaller fanbase” and to not be viewed as a pop-star. With her new 2025 album Perverts, which was released on January 8th, there is a possibility for Anhedönia to return to a compact level of fame. Apart from the initial backlash on the album's title, Perverts is unlike Preachers Daughter sonically. It is what most would describe as a drone style of album, filled with ambient noise and manipulated sounds, all of which Anhedönia made or recorded herself. This style was quick to alienate some of Anhedönias fans, although I don’t think that is much of a problem to the singer, some would say it was even an intentional choice. Some of the online sphere has described Perverts as noise, or an art piece in comparison to an listenable album, Anhedönia would self-describe the record as erotic, meditative, euphoric, and deeply indulgent. In a Tumblr post, she says Perverts was a “sandbox to really do whatever I wanted, so I just did whatever felt good”, which gives explanation to the questionably long length of majority of the tracks, as none fall under 6 minutes long.
[ The Consequence Of Audience via @mothercain on Instagram ]
Initially, Anhedönia expressed that Perverts was intended to be another concept album, with each of the 9 tracks following a different deviant. This was scrapped however, with only ‘Punish’ and ‘Amber Waves’ following that vision. Instead, Perverts was paired with a written piece, The Consequence of Audience, alluding to a possible storyline hidden behind the complex production. To break down this album is a difficult task, especially if you are wishing to preserve Anhedönia’s careful and intentional artistry, so for the sake of this article, I would like to reiterate that this review is based on my own interpretations of what is heard, paired with small gatherings from Anhedönia’s Tumblr, in which she has provided background for some of the tracks.
Perverts opens with a title track of the same name, with a runtime of 12:04 seconds. There is little lyricism to be heard on ‘Perverts’, with a robotic voice repeating phrases such as “God has forsaken the masturbator”, “Heaven”, and ending off with the largely interpretive phrase commonly seen throughout the albums rollout: “It’s happening to everybody”. Sonically, I would compare this track to something that would soundtrack analog horror, or any slightly digital, strange horror in general. There is a brown noise that provides foundation to the entire record, creating this unintentional queasy feeling. You can get lost in this sound easily, as it is placed so lowly it becomes second nature to just allow it to consume the listening experience. Periodically, I found myself snapped out of my fixations by the droning sound that seemingly appears out of nowhere. Sometimes, it is clear it sounds like a drone, other times, it mimics a bell, or a whistling of sorts. Either way it's heard, there is a strange unsettling nature to it all, setting the tone for the rest of the album.
‘Punish’ was the first single off the album, with its lyrics harbouring the tale of a pedophile shot by a child's father, who lives out his life in exile, physically maiming himself to stimulate the bullet wound, ultimately infinitely punishing himself. To me, the intro shamefully reminded me of the discs that could be discovered within the game Minecraft. Although a childish comparison, it tacks on a theme I noticed within the album, that being familiarity, and how eventually the backing noises used within the production become familiar to the listener, leaving you to wonder where you may have heard it before, and eventually resulting in drawing comparisons between the art and real life. Anhedönia strived to create an “up close and personal” an “almost inappropriate” feeling within the track, relying on a creaking chair, piano, and searing guitar to do so. ‘Punish’ musically gives the illusion you have been brought inside to experience a horror, though it is unclear where exactly the listener stands.
Leading into ‘Housofpsychoticwomn’, the 13:35 minute track is truly a nauseating listen. The whirling drone sound is far more prominent than before, even when the vocals are brought into play. In light of the song's title, It did leave me filled with slight insanity, craving for the track to be over, but yet it continued to push me into discomfort, testing my listening abilities, especially towards the end where the buzzing became very real, as if I was hearing my old box tv hum. Even when lyrics are presented, they are overshadowed with the obscene noises of what sounds like a ghastly version of a mouth being forced open, which eventually morphs into the moans of a porn audio. Overall the track narrows in on the repeated mantra ‘I love you’ that eventually gets paired with the slight scheming lyric of “When you were young, you said you wished that someone loved you… I do”. This is not the first time the concept of ‘love’ appears within the record, as ‘Punish’ has the repeated lyric “I am punished by love”, leading me to wonder if the idea of love, especially in an erotic sense, may be a key overarching theme of Perverts.
‘Vacillator’ is arguably the most digestible track on the record. Although it is still lengthy, musically it aligns closer with Preachers Daughter with simple drums and Anhedönia’s ethereal vocals dominating the track. Interestingly enough, nearly all of Anhedönia’s lyrics on ‘Vacillator’ contrast the true behaviour of a Vacillator. Typically, they are someone who is indecisive or hesitant with relationships, craving the connection of one, but being sensitive to rejection. The lyrics instead portray someone within a relationship, or asking someone to be in one, making brash claims such as “I could make you cum twenty times a day”. Yet, in the end, the Vacillator says “If you love me, keep it to yourself”, a strange contradiction to the want previously expressed, opening the door for interpretation to explore the choices, mentality, and reasoning of this particular Vacillator.
‘Onanist’ brings listeners back to the original eerie noises of Perverts. By this point, there is a familiarity, pulling a similar set of sounds witnessed within the opening track ‘Perverts’. Wisps of wind play a large role within this piece, often being mixed in or nearly mistaken for these airy vocals that bridge into the lyrics. ‘Onanist’ is what I believe to be the closest representative to The Consequence Of Audience, with the sonic build up feeling like the approach to what Anhedönia describes as this dome, saying “I want to know love, I want to know what it feels like”, possibly referring to the dome. The end of the track can be compared to when Anhedönia, or whoever the character in Perverts is, is spit out, knowing that inside the dome “it felt good”, but needing to repeat the cycle once again.
‘Onanist’ blends into ‘Pulldrone’, a word in which Anhedönia describes as “the wax and wane, the pull and the drone. Its life”, is the longest track off the album, sitting at 15 minutes. It opens with a spoken word by Anhedönia describing the stages of simulacrum, a strange abstract concept by Jean Boullariard that focuses on a “copy of the real”, the creation of this imitation, representation, or fake version of an object. Anhedönia revealed this was one of the huge inspirations behind the record, leaving me revel in the curiosity of why? Does it relate to Anhedönia portraying and becoming Ethel Cain, who isn’t real, but instead this imitation of part of Anhedönia’s real experiences? Or is it far more complex than that, unable to be reduced to a simple analogy. Regardless of the psychology behind ‘Pulldrone”, it stands as one of the most haunting tracks, especially upon the faltering of the Hurdy Gurdy, the main instrument within the track. Due to its length, I found myself dissociating throughout ‘Pulldrone’ leading me to produce my own meaning behind Anhedönia’s drone soundscape. What stood out the most, was the ability for the Hurdy Gurdy to sound like an emergency alarm, one that would be used in an apocalyptic sense, which within my mind, added another level of great horror to the imagination behind Perverts.
[ Apathy via @mothercain on Instagram ]
‘Etienne’ welcomes listeners back to something concrete. We’re offered a piano and what appears to be an acoustic guitar paired with the ambient noise. This creates a more present, yet still spine-chilling soundscape, almost as if you’re peering into two people playing music together in a warmly lit living room, whilst you’re somewhere else in the house, maybe in the kitchen or around the corner in an unlit hallway. Anhedönia revealed that ‘Etienne’ is about Étienne-Louis Boullée, a french architect that she admires. Anhedönia tells Tumblr that she believes that Boullée was one of the first to discover the great dark and pioneer this fresh way to see both new and old worlds. Boullée could also be credited as the first to conceptualize simulacrum, a theme that was first featured on Anhedönia’s instagram, and then again within ‘Pulldrone’. It seems Boullée may also play a role within The Consequence of Audience, as his ‘Temple of Death’, may be the inspiration for the dome in that written work, though it has not been confirmed.
‘Thatorchia’ is a far more transitional track, bridging listeners between ‘Etienne’ and ‘Amber Waves’. Beginning as the deeper drone sounding, ‘Thatorchia’ blends into this twisted godlike soundscape, almost like a lure. I wouldn’t compare it to a prayer or a hymn, but something more ritualistic, a calling performed by Anhedönia’s non-verbal vocalisations of song. I viewed this track as something far less haunting, and instead given the vision of an empty Church, or a deserted small town street that borders onto the forest.
Upon ‘Thatorichia’ finishing, we are met with the final track ‘Amber Waves’, the third most prominent vocal track on the album. Anhedönia sings of “throwing your life away to get high”, and the deviance of that. She believed that a “slow-core” track would be best fitting to represent her intentions. In a way, ‘Amber Waves’ the entirety of the album within its 11 minutes, offering both the droning heard within ‘Perverts’ and melody that Anhedönia can lend vocals to. Sonically, it appears to be one of the lightest tracks on the album, as if a weight has been lifted off the listers shoulders for the first time since the albums begin. ‘Amber Waves’ is gorgeous, a track that feels both like the fading golden sun, but also the readjusting of your eyes after a bright white light. Musically, it is a relief, but lyrically that is not the case. Anhedönia sings “I can’t feel anything”, a line that can represent both the individuals state in context with the song, but may also play into the themes of The Consequence of Audience and possibly the conversation of love throughout Pervert's lyrics.
[ Original Perverts Tracklist Reveal via @mothercain on Instagram ]
Although Perverts is not an album for everyone, it is worth the listen for those who find enjoyment in the drone genre, value risks within production, or those who are intrigued by the talk of the unintentional darkness that has plagued this album, and the beauty in how the uncomfortableness can make the listener feel. For a deeper information on Perverts I would recommend taking a look at Ethel Cain’s Tumblr, or tuning into the first “Ethel Cain Residency” on NTS Radio on January 10th at 2PM est, where Anhedönia will provide some opening and closing commentary on her album.
Daughters of Cain, you may now stream Perverts on any major streaming platforms.
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