Ethel Cain has built a career as an indie rock artist with themes of Southern gothic and nostalgia. And she’s begun 2025 by expanding her musical empire.
Perverts – Cain’s new album – was released earlier this month.
Historically, her music blends off-putting sounds with poetic lyrics and beautiful melodies. But most of the songs on this album lack key components of her style, leaving the music unbalanced.
“Perverts,” the titular song, begins with hymns that become distorted and cut out to leave only specific words that wouldn’t be appropriate to include. Even for an unusual artist, this song is strange. Some parts of the song are almost completely silent, except for the ominous ringing and out-of-tune synthesizer harmonies that come in nearly halfway through the song.
The second song in the album, “Punish,” is a beautiful, tragic love song. It starts with a piano melody and resonant vocals that match perfectly with the melancholy lyrics, “I am punished by love.”
About four minutes in, there’s a scratchy harmonious background sound with bass, split vocals and violin that grows until 50 seconds before the song ends, when it drops back out to solo piano. This song fits her classic style, while much of the album is something completely different.
“Housofpsychoticwomn” features more ringing noises, with what sounds like highway distortion and a broken vinyl. When the lyrics hadn’t started after four minutes into the song, I was nearly ready to skip it. The lyrics are so faint and sound like static. I was only able to hear it through headphones. While it is creative, this track is simply unlikable.
The fourth song, “Vacillator,” is one of my favorite songs on the album. It begins with a building percussive beat before soft synthesizer and piano are added in as the lyrics start. The moody lyrics and soft melody make the song a perfect addition to my rainy-day playlists.
“Onanist” begins with a simple reverb piano melody with haunting vocals that have an incredible echo when listening through headphones. Although it isn’t one of my favorites, it makes for an interesting listening experience.
Cain’s ability to compose shines in “Onanist.” The music lifts the listener up before bringing them back down with deep minor-key organ synthesizer and radio static background noise that builds until it’s nearly overpowering.
The sixth song, “Pulldrone,” features a spoken poem, essentially a prayer. It’s a dark, oppressive and overwhelming song that’s suited for a horror film soundtrack. The scratchy techno-violin that builds throughout the song begins to cut out in a percussive rhythm at the end before complete silence.
“Etienne” is a sweet song with melodic piano and a calming atmosphere. It ends with what sounds like a sermon, but as if it was recorded through a damaged radio. It’s an interesting juxtaposition between the relaxing piano and the scratching words, but I found the music to be likable.
The eighth track, “Thatorchia,” is genuinely terrifying. Its rumbling noises and over-amplified acoustics with wordless vocalizations make an ominous combination. This song was the scariest and most off-putting of the album, emphasizing her shift from semi-popular indie music to abstract art.
“Amber Waves,” the ninth and final song, is in stark contrast with the track prior. It’s similar to her previous releases, with melancholy lyrics, quiet piano and slow electric guitar. The song is over 11 minutes long and the lyrics begin nearly half-way through. Even though this song is my favorite of the album, I’ll need to skip through the long introduction if I want to listen to it regularly.
There were a few songs I enjoyed from this release, but I’d rather not hear the others again. The album was largely a disappointment. I’ve been listening to Ethel Cain for a few years, and I like most of her songs, but this album was so different from her others.
Her previous albums, Golden Age, Inbred and Preacher’s Daughter have garnered international attention. On Spotify, Ethel Cain has 3.4 million monthly listeners.
While I don’t predict this album is set to win any major awards, I think it’s unique, and it fully expresses Cain’s shift towards abstract music.
Her recent songs are drastically different from her other albums, yet her classic gothic imagery and messages of her struggle with religion are still involved in her music. I hope that her next release will mark a return to her old style, but perhaps she’ll continue to develop something new.