Ethel Cain Ushers in 2025 with Haunting New Single ‘Punish’
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All hail the high priestess of gothic chamber rock. ‘Punish’ is the latest single from American songwriter Ethel Cain – the stage name of Hayden Anhedönia. This is a precursor to her upcoming album ‘Perverts’, which is to be released on January 8. Furthermore, Cain’s latest work comes after the success of her debut ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ in 2022. By success, we mean critical praises. This includes landing on Barack Obama’s year-end playlist, and fronting fashion campaigns for brands like Givenchy and Miu Miu. However, it always seemed like Cain wore mainstream attention like an uncomfortable outer garment. It’s a sheen that seemingly paid no heed to her deep inner well of brutal honesty and brooding sonic leanings.
That chapter seems to be over by the sounds of it. ‘Punish’ is an unforgiving, near-7 minute slow-build evisceration of happiness. Much of Cain’s art owes to her background as a former devoted Southern Baptist churchgoer. Having since left the fold, she now melds spiritual matters with an ethereal musical quality some have described as the ‘doomgaze’ alternative to shoegaze.
On ‘Punish’, Cain pushes this further by exploring shame with bare knuckles. The first half is carried by her exquisite, breathless voice over a few sparse piano notes. She moans, “Only God knows, only God would believe / That I was an angel, but they made me leave.”. The curtains part for a muddy distortion-led descent as the Florida-born singer repeats the refrain “I am punished by love,”. If misery loves company, Ethel invites you to join her in a pit of despair, and of course, we dig.
‘Punish’ is gripping and otherworldly. Moreover, it’s exactly the kind of music Cain has promised. This comes after recently railing against the cultural loss of sincerity and seriousness online in a now-deleted Tumblr post. Overall, with ‘Perverts’, one senses she is taking all our memes and self-aggrandizing irony, and pummels them with her soul-searching voice. Further to this, that would make it the first album we can look forward to unpacking in 2025.
Ethel Cain is on Instagram. Read more news pieces here and watch the music video below:
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