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Perverts (album)

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Perverts
Recording by
Ethel Cain
ReleasedJanuary 8, 2025 (2025-01-08)
Recorded2024
Genre
Length89:29
LabelDaughters of Cain (via AWAL)
ProducerEthel Cain
Ethel Cain chronology
Preacher's Daughter
(2022) 		Perverts
(2025)
Singles from Perverts
  1. "Punish"
    Released: November 1, 2024

Perverts is a studio recording[a] by the American singer-songwriter and record producer Ethel Cain. It was self-released through the label Daughters of Cain on January 8, 2025, and marked her first release since the 2022 album Preacher's Daughter. Cain entirely wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed the project in 2024, while Dale Becker mastered it. Music critics have identified Perverts as a drone, slowcore, dark ambient, and power electronics project. Lyrically, it explores ways of perversion.

Perverts was preceded by the single "Punish" on November 1, 2024. Upon its release, the recording was met with generally positive reviews from critics, according to Metacritic. Most of them called it a difficult listen and interpreted it as in opposition to Preacher's Daughter.

Background

[edit]

Ethel Cain released her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter, in 2022, to critical acclaim.[1][2][3] It centered on the fictional character of the same name, and contained Southern Gothic imagery and themes including religious indoctrination, sexual violence, isolation, and family trauma.[4] Following its release, the album was included in several year-end lists of the best music and she garnered a cult following online.[5]

In an interview with The Guardian's Shaad D'Souza, Cain said that she did not want to achieve success, criticizing how she was often seen as a joke and "a dancing monkey in a circus".[6] Speaking with Kiernan Shipka for Interview in June 2023, Cain expressed her excitement to "push it farther into the direction that [she has] always wanted to go" on her next full-length release, which is "10- to 20-minute songs just drenched in reverb, so slow, and super repetitive."[7] She then expressed her admiration for slowcore and ambient music, and stated that she "feel[s] a bit more confident doing that and less worried about what people will think".[8]

In 2024, Cain debuted various songs at her third concert tour, the Childish Behaviour Tour, including "Punish" and "Amber Waves".[2][9][10][11] In parallel, she published a video with a snippet of new music and clips from the horror film The Reflecting Skin (1990).[12][13] In October of the same year, Cain teased music on social media by sharing grainy and black-and-white photos captioned with words including "Apathy", "Disruption", and "Assimilation".[14][15]

Development

[edit]

Cain entirely wrote, recorded, and produced Perverts in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, and Tallahassee, Florida, in 2024.[16] She played several instruments, with collaboration from Matthew Tomasi, Angel Diaz, Bryan De Leon, and Madeline Johnston.[17][18][19] Cain also mixed it, while Dale Becker was in charge of its mastering.[19] Perverts was initially conceived as a concept album centered on deviants, but only two of the first written songs—"Punish" and "Amber Waves"—were included in the final track listing.[20] According to Stereogum's Brad Sanders, on the original version of Perverts, Cain "would have explored a different character that society considers a pervert on each song".[18] The project was inspired by several cultural references. Initially, it centered on studying "perverts"; she was influenced to do that after reading a series of short stories by Donald Ray Pollock.[21]

Composition

[edit]

Overview

[edit]

Music critics have categorized Perverts as a drone,[22][23][24] slowcore,[22][18] dark ambient,[25] and power electronics recording.[26] They also perceived elements of folk,[27] 1980s post-industrial,[26][28] and noise music.[20] The album has a lo-fi, slow, and experimental production;[26][29] Dork's Sam Taylor viewed it as her "most experimental work" to that point.[25] It was perceived as a dark project by several reviewers.[30][23][18] Exclaim!'s Ian Gormely compared it to a late 2000s Mount Eerie album,[27] while Sanders viewed similarities to the slowcore sound of the bands Codeine and Duster.[18]

Perverts contains guitars and more spoken-word vocals as it progresses.[31][32] They are distorded and altered with numerous effects,[26] including reverberations.[17] The lyrical content of the project centers on ways of perversions. Various lyrics are repeated on each song.[31] Adam England from Xtra Magazine perceived similarities with the group Throbbing Gristle and the composer La Monte Young.[32] Anthony Scanga of the Iowa Public Radio compared Perverts with the ambient works of the musician Aphex Twin and the slowcore music of the band Low.[29] India Block for the Evening Standard listed the doom metal band Bell Witch and the singer Kristin Hayter as similarities, while comparing it with the 2024 film Nosferatu.[23]

Perverts is a standalone work and does not follow the story of Preacher's Daughter centered on the fictional character Ethel Cain.[33] Prior to its release, Cain teased the themes of Perverts by publishing a short story titled "The Consequence of Audience".[34] Sanders compared "The Consequence of Audience" with Cain's statement about an "irony epidemic", describing memes made by fans inspired on songs from Preacher's Daughter.[22] With a length of almost 90 minutes, Perverts includes nine tracks; four exceed the duration of 10 minutes.[32]

Songs

[edit]

The opening track, "Perverts", begins with a distorded, lo-fi recording from the 19th-century Christian hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee".[32][20] It is an experimental ambient track with a duration of nearly 12 minutes.[29] There are two statements throughout the song, "Heaven has forsaken the masturbator" and "it's happening to everybody".[20] "Punish" is a slowcore song[31] that starts with a lo-fi piano and builds to a crescendo.[20][30] On her Tumblr account, Cain explained that it is about a pedophile who was shot by his victim's father and "harms himself repeatedly to simulate the bullet wound" on his body.[31] However, she stated that it could be freely interpreted.[20] More focused on the lyrics than the rest of the project,[28] it includes a reference to Gary Plauché, an American man who killed his son's rapist, Jeffrey Doucet.[21] Sanders drew similarities between the piano progressions of "Punish" and "Horizon", a Aldous Harding song from the album Party (2017).[18] The minimalist[24] drone-leaning[32] "Housofpsychoticwomn" is named after the Kier-La Janisse book titled House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films.[20] Clare Martin of Paste drew comparisons to the horror film The Grudge (2004),[20] while Steven Hyden of Uproxx compared it to the slower tracks on the 1977 album Low by the musician David Bowie, and the 2005 album Feels by the band Animal Collective.[35] It contains repeated statements of "I love you" and "I do" over a static sound,[28] told by a low-pitched voice to a lost love.[31]

On the over 7 minute-long "Vacillator", Cain sings melancholic lyrics portraying an abuser in a relationship: "I like that sound you make / when you're clawing at the edge / and without escape".[24][31][20] A country ballad with a minimalist production,[36] it is the only song on Perverts that contains drums.[18] Slant Magazine's Eric Mason believed that Cain "channels" the singer-songwriter Nicole Dollanganger on "Vacillator".[37] The title of the fifth song on Perverts, "Onanist", refer to masturbation. Sonically, the song contains lo-fi piano and electric bass.[20] The following track, "Pulldrone", is monotone spoken word and drone.[28][32] Martin compared its sound to Preacher's Daughter's "Ptolemaea" and to the works of the progressive folk group Lankum.[20] On the lyrics, Cain lists agressions.[23] "Etienne" and "Thatorchia" are instrumentals.[20] The former is made by acoustic guitar and piano,[18] and ends with a speech of a suicidal man who "doesn't want do die anymore" after a failed attempt.[31] The latter is a shoegaze song with a post-rock outro.[32][27] Both instrumentals contain guitars and mechanical noise.[31] NME's Kristen S. Hé believed that the guitar used on "Thatorchia" is similar to the ambient and shoegaze band Lovesliescrushing.[36] The album closes with the slowcore "Amber Waves",[36] which is other of the tracks with more lyrical content.[29] Its title references the poem "America the Beautiful".[31] Over acoustic guitar and noise, Cain reveals, "Cause the devil I know is the devil I want".[20] According to Gormely, "Amber Waves" is similar to the works of the band American Football.[27] The song and project end with the singer saying "I can't feel anything".[20]

Release and promotion

[edit]

The release of Perverts was announced on Cain's official Instagram account on October 14, 2024.[15] The lead single from the project, titled "Punish", was released on November 1, 2024, alongside a music video directed by Cain and Silken Weinberg.[38] On November 11, 2024, Cain revealed the track listing for Perverts.[39] Ahead of its release, it was added to Vulture's list of the most anticipated albums of 2025.[40] Perverts was released on January 8, 2025, through the record label Daughters of Cain under the distribution company AWAL.[18][24]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[41]
Metacritic75/100[42]
Review scores
SourceRating
Clash9/10[28]
DIY[24]
Exclaim!7/10[27]
The Guardian[26]
The Independent[43]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[31]
NME[36]
Paste7.6/10[20]
Slant Magazine[37]
Sputnikmusic3.5/5[44]

On the review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, Perverts holds a weighted mean of 75 based on 13 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[42] The site AnyDecentMusic? gave it a score of 7.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[41]

Critics viewed Perverts as a difficult listen.[28][31] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times said that the project "does not invite repeat visits",[45] and Hé believed that "casual fans may not last even three minutes".[36] The Line of Best Fit's Matthew Kim called it a different experience of music, and said that it would "open up" if one is "ready to plunge into the depths and emerge semi-alive". He named "Amber Waves" the "easiest" song to listen to.[31] Sputnikmusic's reviewer stated that the project and song lengths "harmed [its] replay value", and described "Punish", "Amber Waves", and "Vacillator" as the most traditional tracks.[44] Clash's Vicky Greer thought that the album is a "tough pill to swallow" for the fans that discovered Cain for the alternative pop song "American Teenager" (2022),[28] while The Independent's Helen Brown believed it does not offer "stadium-singalong pop".[43] For DIY, Ben Tipple said that how "enjoyable" the project is depends on how the listener is prepared,[24] while Martin stated that it "demands [them] feel something".[20]

Perverts received comparisons to Preacher's Daughter. Hé said that the album differs from the style of Cain's debut album,[36] Tipple described it as a "vast sidestep",[24] and Gormely similarily interpreted it as its opposite.[27] Kim praised it for having "an even richer picture" than Preacher's Daughter.[31] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian stated that the project succeeded if Cain wanted to "scale down her fanbase". He also compared her to other contemporary musicians, believing that she "is made of noticeably different stuff".[26] Additionally, Tiple wrote that "a rating feels like a flimsy attempt to quantify [Perverts's] polarising creative confidence".[24]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Hayden Anhedönia (Ethel Cain).[19]

Perverts track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Perverts"12:04
2."Punish"6:40
3."Housofpsychoticwomn"13:35
4."Vacillator"7:44
5."Onanist"6:24
6."Pulldrone"15:14
7."Etienne"8:43
8."Thatorchia"7:24
9."Amber Waves"11:32
Total length:89:20

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from Tidal.[19]

Note

[edit]
  1. ^ Press releases describe Perverts as a "project", "body of work", or extended play (EP) rather than a studio album.[46][18][35] While streaming services and some reliable sources call it an album or LP record,[47][28] preponderance of publications give it a neutral classification.[48][30][25][31] This article uses "studio recording" and "project" for consistency.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Koscelnik, Julia (July 21, 2023). "V's New Music Roundup: HAIM, Ethel Cain, and more". V Magazine. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Song, Sandra. "Live News: Billie Eilish drops "CHIHIRO" music video, Ethel Cain debuts "Punish," and more". The Fader. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  3. ^ Murray, Robin (October 14, 2024). "Ethel Cain Announces New Project 'Perverts'". Clash. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  4. ^ Lopez, Julyssa (August 30, 2023). "Into the Abyss With Ethel Cain". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Breihan, Tom (October 14, 2024). "Ethel Cain Announces New Album Perverts, Joins American Football In LA". Stereogum. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  6. ^ D'Souza, Shaad (June 7, 2023). "'I felt like a performing monkey': Ethel Cain on fans, fainting and being 'Miss Alt-Pop Star'". The Guardian. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  7. ^ Shipka, Kiernan (June 21, 2023). "Ethel Cain and Kiernan Shipka on Nihilism and Nightmares". Interview. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Kurp, Josh (October 14, 2024). "Ethel Cain Announces A New Album, 'Perverts,' With A First Single That's Coming Out Soon". Uproxx. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  9. ^ Breihan, Tom (June 5, 2024). "Watch Ethel Cain Perform New Songs & Cover "Bette Davis Eyes" In Paris". Stereogum. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  10. ^ Jacob, Lola (June 5, 2024). "Ethel Cain performs new songs 'Punish' and 'I Keep The Angel' on tour". Coup de Main. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  11. ^ Pappis, Konstantinos (June 1, 2024). "5 Highlights From Primavera Sound 2024 Friday, May 31". Our Culture. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  12. ^ Chelosky, Danielle (April 21, 2024). "Ethel Cain Shares New Song On Instagram". Stereogum. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  13. ^ Jacob, Lola (April 23, 2024). "Ethel Cain has teased new music". Coup de Main. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  14. ^ Keates, Emma (October 14, 2024). "Ethel Cain finally announces sophomore album, Perverts". AV Club. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Paul, Larisha (October 14, 2024). "Ethel Cain Sets Release Date for New Album 'Perverts'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  16. ^ Strauss, Matthew (November 1, 2024). "Ethel Cain Shares Dark and Moody Video for New Song "Punish": Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Pollock, Jim (January 6, 2025). "Music Review: On 'Perverts,' Ethel Cain's gloomy Americana turns industrial". Alternative Press. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sanders, Brad (January 7, 2025). "Album Of The Week: Ethel Cain Perverts". Stereogum. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d "Perverts by Ethel Cain on TIDAL". Tidal. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Martin, Clare (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain is Inscrutable and Fascinating on Perverts". Paste. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Pace-McCarrick, Solomon (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain's Perverts: 5 macabre cultural references from the new project". Dazed. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  22. ^ a b c Curto, Justin (January 8, 2025). "Who's Afraid of New Ethel Cain?". Vulture. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  23. ^ a b c d Block, India (January 8, 2025). "Perverts by Ethel Cain review: enter this dark and twisted church of stomach-churning ambient doom". Evening Standard. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h Tipple, Ben (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain – Perverts". DIY. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  25. ^ a b c Taylor, Sam (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain has released her experimental ambient project 'Perverts'". Dork. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  26. ^ a b c d e f Petridis, Alexis (January 2, 2025). "Ethel Cain: Perverts review – pink noise and punishment as cult star heads underground". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 5, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  27. ^ a b c d e f Gormely, Ian (January 7, 2025). "Ethel Cain Steps Further from the Light on 'Perverts'". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h Greer, Vicky. "Ethel Cain – Perverts". Clash. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  29. ^ a b c d Scanga, Anthony (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain: 'Perverts' review - a darkly ambient departure". Iowa Public Radio. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  30. ^ a b c Shah, Rishi (January 8, 2025). "Album review: Ethel Cain – Perverts". Kerrang!. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kim, Matthew. "Ethel Cain goes from hell to heaven and back on Perverts". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g England, Adam (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain embraces the experimental on her new project, 'Perverts'". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  33. ^ Hé, Kristen S. (November 1, 2024). "'Punish' is a brutally beautiful introduction to Ethel Cain's new chapter". NME. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  34. ^ Aswad, Jem (November 1, 2024). "Ethel Cain Drops First Song From Forthcoming 'Perverts' Project, 'Punish'". Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  35. ^ a b Hyden, Steven (January 8, 2025). "Ethel Cain Has Made The Most Extreme 'Anti-Fame' Album In Years". Uproxx. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  36. ^ a b c d e f Hé, Kristen S. (January 6, 2025). "Ethel Cain – 'Perverts' review: daring discomfort from a true cult star". NME. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  37. ^ a b Mason, Eric (January 5, 2025). "Ethel Cain 'Perverts' Review: Another Cathartic Character Portrait". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on January 6, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  38. ^ Taylor, Sam (November 1, 2024). "Ethel Cain has dropped her much-teased 6-minute-long new single 'Punish'". Dork. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  39. ^ Lapierre, Megan (November 11, 2024). "Ethel Cain Shares 'Perverts' Tracklist, Artwork". Exclaim. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  40. ^ Reilly, Dan (January 7, 2025). "37 Albums We Can't Wait to Hear in 2025 What to expect when you're expecting LG7". Vulture. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  41. ^ a b "Perverts by Ethel Cain reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Archived from the original on January 9, 2025. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  42. ^ a b "Perverts by Ethel Cain Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  43. ^ a b Brown, Helen (January 9, 2025). "On Perverts, Ethel Cain is lost in the meticulous crafting of her own horror noise". The Independent. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
  44. ^ a b "Review: Ethel Cain - Perverta". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  45. ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic. "Ethel Cain: Perverts album review — unnerving Lynchian soundscapes". Financial Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  46. ^ "Ethel Cain Shares New Song "Punish": Listen". Stereogum. November 1, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  47. ^ "Perverts — Album by Ethel Cain". Apple Music (US). Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  48. ^ Hardman, Neville (January 8, 2025). "Stream Ethel Cain's new project Perverts". Alternative Press. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
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