‘Preacher’s Daughter’ was a stunning release in 2022. It left Ethel Cain placed as an artist you could imagine moving in a variety of different ways with equal brilliance. The possibility of mainstream pop success, rock or indie… maybe an introspective singer-songwriter. At the time ‘Ptolemaea’ and ‘August Underground’ felt like outliers, though ones that fitted into the overall southern gothic vibes and the way Cain is clearly drawn to film scores and soundtracks. ‘Perverts’ grabs onto those outliers and then pushes on into the great beyond, a world removed from that earlier gothic work.

“This is challenging and reactionary, Cain sticking up two fingers to her audience and saying do you really want to be my fan? “

The title track starts things off, with that beautiful singing voice buried under layers of distortion before tailing off after a minute into nothingness, like the quiet of a serial killer’s house after they are emotionally and physically spent. Then words and sounds eerily kick back in, ‘masturbator’ is one repeated refrain you can catch among the low oscillating bass rumble. At 5 minutes the guitar returns for the briefest level of distortion before flitting in and out. Further distorted refrains. 10 minutes in and the hint of a tune flickers in but fails to materialise. This is not music for a mainstream mass audience. This is challenging and reactionary, Cain sticking up two fingers to her audience and saying, “Do you really want to be my fan?” Her reactions to fan intrusion and fame have been well documented over the last couple of years. This feels like the ultimate riposte.

Lead single ‘Punish’ follows. It set the tone for this album without giving away the full extent of the musical pivot. Six and a half minutes of creeping doom that builds from a few piano chords to a screeching crescendo of guitar without a drum kit in sight. Though there is singing and an actual tune here, rarities across what else is to follow.

‘Housofpsychoticwomn’ weighs in at 13 minutes. The phrase “I love you” wheels by for minutes on end but this is “I love you” from The Tooth Fairy of Red Dragon, or The Zodiac Killer. Again, notes drift around in the background whilst oscillating discordance is at the foreground. Right at the end a foghorn sized blast of distortion smashes in to unsettle you even further.

Over half an hour in and the fourth track ‘Vacillator’ brings in an honest to goodness set of drums. Still a mood of doom remains foregrounded until that beautiful, fragile voice finally opens up a couple of minutes in, bringing some relief for the listener to hang onto amid the experimental storm.

‘Pulldrone’ is like spoken word poetry, 2 minutes passes before a chime disturbs the spoken stream of consciousness. 5 minutes along and the noise is like a buzzsaw to the brain. At 9 minutes you are living in a horror movie where the killer stalks you with a queezy, sickly violin, drawing the most evil sounds out of their instrument. 13 minutes and the tempation to bail on this track comes on strong, but like watching Gasper Noé’s Irreversible for the first time I must see this unsettling experience through to the end. I am rewarded by ‘Ettiene’ and the re-emergance of recognisable notes and chords. ‘Thatorchia’ rises to an emotional highpoint that would have fitted in beautifully with the death of Roy Batty in Bladerunner.

8 days in and this is undeniably the first key release of the year. This is not a happy album, it is a challenging, experimental moodpiece. If you want a sad place to wallow this album will be your best friend. Many are going to hate all but a couple of tracks. If you like the boundaries of music pushed and have the patience for an hour and a half listen then there is a lot here to experience and unpack. Has there been a bigger pivot musically between albums than this? What will Cain’s next album sound like? This is an album that leaves you with far more questions than answers.