By Phil Buckman
In an age where our lives are increasingly spent caged in office cubicles in front of screens, it’s easy to become nostalgic about a slower-paced life. Humid mornings with hazy smoke behind the paddocks, heat radiating off the blacktop in a sleepy ghost town. The sound of church bells in the distance as bored teenagers smoke cigarettes with their windows down.
Ethel Cain’s Preachers Daughter evokes Americana, Southern Gothic, and backwards country towns. Brought up in a restrictive Baptist community by deeply religious parents, 26-year-old Hayden Silas Anhedonia has found a way to channel the experiences which shaped her. This piece is her first full-length album, preceded by her critically acclaimed EP, Inbred. The Florida-raised artist began her life in the humid forests and swamplands of the deep south, an environment which is not dissimilar to the climate in Southeast Queensland.
The album draws influence from many places, echoing the ethereal pining of Lana Del Ray’s work just as much as it conjures the mournful ballads at the end of Johnny Cash’s career. Broadly, it falls under the genre of Southern Gothic. This is music which evokes lonely bars, cigarette smoke and midnight meetings with the devil at the crossroads. It echoes the lives of lone travellers in the western desert and captures the salt-of-the-earth spirit of common workers struggling to survive in a pessimistic, ever-changing world.
American Teenager is a deceptive start to the album, a jangly pop anthem that wouldn’t be out of place on a playlist with Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. It conjures the spirit of a small town coming-of-age movie – football games, drunken parties at the farmhouse, yearning for a new life far away from the same old faces.
The story develops as the album progresses into A House In Nebraska. This deeply personal piece captures the yearning we feel for past lovers, no matter how poorly our time was spent together. Humid suburban shacks, lazy afternoons and old mattresses is the imagery that comes to mind while listening to this track.
Western Nights is an exploration of toxic relationships, from the female perspective. The character in this song is hopelessly in love with a man who is no good for her – he is an abusive criminal who is running from the police. This archetypal relationship is all too common.
Family Tree is a dark introspective journey into the character’s past and the impact of their culture, land and ancestors. It draws upon imagery of rivers, chapels and white horses, creating scenes of biblical proportions. The song ebbs and flows before building to a captivating climax that is sure to hold the attention of country dwellers and inner-city artists alike.
The subject matter in Preacher’s Daughter is dark and heavy, as it describes sexual abuse, domestic violence and substance abuse. Some listeners may find this album disturbing and unpleasant.
Hard Times is deceptively peaceful, beginning with calm guitar strumming and the sound of nature. Ethel’s singing is calm, but the subject matter is far from it. It tells the story of her abuse at the hands of her father, the preacher at their small-town church.
Encapsulating a free and youthful spirit, Thoroughfare tells the tale of young lovers fleeing their hometown and travelling across the country. It is more uplifting than many of the other songs on the album, which is a welcome change.
Musically and lyrically, Gibson Girl is one of the weaker tracks on the album. It attempts to be sultry and edgy but falls victim to repetition and a long duration. Some of the songs on this album have a run time close to six or seven minutes. It’s less noticeable on tracks like Family Tree, but others drag along and seem to get in their own way. It would be a wise choice to cut down the length of some tracks here.
Ptolemae is an abstract glimpse into a personal hell. Once again, Ethel draws upon religious imagery. The narrating voice in this song echoes over dirging guitar and stomping drums, with the buzzing of flies and piano in the background. The speech in this song is dark, with satanic undertones.
“Blessed be the Daughters of Cain, bound to suffering eternal through the sins of their fathers committed long before their conception.”
Without a doubt, it is the most unusual track on the album. It is a disturbing and unsettling piece of art, but very memorable.
Placed towards the end of the album as instrumental tracks, August Underground and Televangelism provide some atmosphere to the dense songwriting. Having two instrumental tracks back-to-back is an unusual choice, but it works well given that neither track is particularly long.
The penultimate track, Sun-Bleached Flies, hearkens back to the Southern Gothic imagery the album is steeped in. The lyrics describe flies roasting on a windowsill waiting to escape as an analogy for a teenager’s yearning to leave the small-town church they were raised in.
“Sun bleached flies sitting in the windowsill
Waiting for the day they escape
They talk all about that money and how their babies are always changing while they’re
breathing in the poison of the paint
What I wouldn’t give to be in Church this Sunday
Listening to the choir, so heartfelt, all singing
God loves you, but not enough to save you”
For all of its faults, there’s no denying that this album creates strong imagery for the listener. Its rich soundscapes and poetic lyrics lend themselves to imaginative escapism.
The thirteenth and final track on this album, Strangers, is a calming song with dark lyrics which depicts a conversation between a parent and their deceased child from beyond the grave. It is haunting and beautiful all at once, and serves as a memorable finale to this long, quasi-cinematic album.
Preacher’s Daughter is a challenging and imaginative piece of work. Its dirge-like tracks and excessive run time can be overlooked when considering the vast depth of its lyrical and musical storytelling. At the young age of 26, Ethel Cain has created an art piece which captures a version of America which is on the verge of being lost in time.
In a world that is increasingly urbanised, this album conjures the spirit of old lives lived in a rugged reality. Away from the stresses of the corporate rat race and the spiritual disconnection of post-capitalism, simple, honest people work the land and fear a God which seems to watch their every step. Preacher’s Daughter is an album which bottles up the old America like a fine vintage wine.
Phil Buckman is a 24-year-old Mass Communication student majoring in Journalism and Advertising. He is deeply passionate about the outdoors and fascinated by the stories of everyday people around the world. When he’s not at his current job working in bush regeneration & arboriculture, you can find him jumping off waterfalls or sitting on top of a mountain.
