Ethel Cain. Photo by Silken Weinberg
Ethel Cain has been a key artist in an entrancing, American Gothic mode of songwriting. At first, her brooding sound, with its vivid descriptions of falls from grace both mythic and specific to the United States, seems like it's created with a gaze disassociated from watching too much late-night televangelism. But Cain writes with deep compassion that made her 2021 EP Inbred one of our favorite releases from that year.
Today, she shares her debut album Preacher's Daughter. Hear it below. It was preceded by the songs "American Teenager," "Gibson Girl," and "Strangers." Back in 2021, she gave The FADER a bit of insight into her creation of the album. "The project deals with the subversion of Christianity, especially in the south. These women that say 'God loves you' and preach the gospel, but they're preaching their own gospel."
