Perverts by Ethel Cain 🎵

I’m not really the type to write, speak, or think coherently when I get excited. This is especially so when I get overstimulated by music which is the case with this album. I guess it’s another side effect of my ADHD. That means that I’m probably not the best at making music reviews, but it’s not like that’s gonna stop me from covering one of my favorite artists when they drop another banger.

Banger is a strong word in this case because Perverts is not the album to bang to. It’s one of those projects that you need to take in, swallow, and process. It’s slow, intense, long, tormenting at times, ethereal at others, and lastly ambient music. I listened to the title track and opener as soon as it released at midnight. It was dark in my room and as I was walking around the apartment, I kept looking behind me as if someone was whispering from behind. It was a hauntingly beautiful experience, literally.

The second track and only single [[Punish by Ethel Cain|Punish]] – which I have covered in its own post – is a remnant of what inspired Perverts to be what it isn’t anymore. The album1 was initially meant to explore what Christianity considers (sexual) deviants on each one of its tracks, but that concept was scrapped at some point. Anyway, to sum up my other post on the song (in which I got a few things about the concept wrong), Punish is about a self-mutilating pedophile. The creaking swing sounds like heavy breathing, like someone is crawling on all fours begging for their life while they wale in agony. There is an elevation halfway through the song, intensified by heavy e-guitar riffs. Her mastery in music production shines with every one of these riffs, as always with her work.

Tracks like Vacillator and Onanist are personal favorites. Her soft vocals layered with heavenly drum patterns on Vacillator are transcendent. When she sings, “Do you like that, baby? I can make you cum 20 times a day,” it’s absurd yet utterly captivating in context. The music feels like it plays directly on your soul. I’m positive she samples parts of the [[LP1 by FKA twigs|Lights on]] intro by FKA Twigs (I mean that guitar that plays two seconds in) in Houseofpsychoticwomn.

I’m not the biggest fan of drone music and Pulldrone didn’t make a difference in that. Regardless of that, it is not a track of no interest to me. In the beginning, the subtle vibration resembles a drill but slowly grows to a piercing siren. It sometimes sounds like you put your head against the window during a drive on the highway and you just fell asleep to the vibrations. The headache you would get is basically the strings orchestration on this song. It takes about 8 minutes for it to become apparent that this isn’t an actual siren, but a chord being perpetually played with an instrument. I doubt this is done acoustically, though.2

A personal standout, Etienne’s instrumental is absolutely ethereal. I know Hayden said that this album wasn’t supposed to scare the listener, but some of these songs on here definitely made me wary of my surroundings for a second, like the opener, for instance. In contrast, the softness of the piano combined with the delicate strumming of an acoustic guitar in addition to the brown noise in the background is just chef’s kiss3 – very reminiscent of Televangelism on her debut Preacher’s Daughter.

In Thatorchia, the layered vocals against reverberating bass create something otherworldly. And then there’s Amber Waves, the heartbreaking closer. Its guitar and melody evoke her For Sure cover. At first, I thought the title referred to surreal waves, but after listening, it seems to be about a girl named Amber waving goodbye to a lover—or maybe it’s both.

I said in a [[On breaking out and virality|previous post about virality]] that she might be trying to scare off her more mainstream fans by being this version of herself, but I take that back. Especially as someone who’s really into her unreleased music, she’s always been this way. She’s not doing anything outrageous or making a statement, she’s just making music that she enjoys making like she’s always done.

When listening to this album, if this “review” happened to spark your interest, really try to take it in. The bass, the drums, the piano, guitar, strings, vocals, noise, everything is part of a very spiritual experience. I’m so happy Hayden is giving a glimpse of what’s inside her head. It’s truly a privilege to be alive at the same time as her and experience her grow, evolve, and produce art in real time.

To Hayden: If you ever read this, I love you and thank you for being.

Rating: 5/5

  1. Actually EP, but since it’s 1.5h long, I have a hard time calling it anything else. ↩︎

  2. Thanks to frickfrack1 for letting me know that this instrument is a hurdy-gurdy! ↩︎

  3. Excuse my lackluster vocabulary in describing these feelings 🥰 ↩︎

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