If you’ve forgotten what the feeling of discomfort is like, look no further than Ethel Cain’s new horrific soundscape of perversion and white noise to remind you.
“Perverts,” released on Jan. 8, is Ethel Cain’s fourth project and a significant departure from her last release. Consisting of nine songs and sitting at one hour and 29 minutes long, this project abandons listeners in a vacuum of unrelenting darkness and anticipation.
Cain is most known for her 2022 album “Preacher’s Daughter,” specifically the second track “American Teenager.” Memorable for its Cranberries-esque rock sound and chilling storyline, this anthem has attracted thousands of new Cain listeners since its release.
“Perverts,” however, is a far cry from Cain’s last project. Rather than a concept album exploring a troubled teenager’s traumatic story, this new LP experiments with droning, ambient tracks and dark, evocative themes such as indulgence, sin and shame.
The opening track, “Perverts,” begins with a heavily distorted rendition of the 19th-century Christian hymn, “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” setting an eerie tone for the project. What follows is 11 minutes of white noise occasionally broken by a distorted string instrument and ominous lines such as “No one you know is a good person,” and “It’s happening to everybody.”
This fuzzy, filthy atmosphere persists throughout the album, tempting listeners to look over their shoulder to ensure nothing unwelcome is prowling behind them. The LP makes listeners feel like they are in a horror film, being watched by an invisible entity with malicious intent.
“Pulldrone,” the most lyrically dense track on the project, pulls you into a sense of psychological horror. Cain delivers a spoken word rendition of 12 stages of simulacrum that becomes increasingly more disturbed as the track progresses.
“Perverts” wraps up with the haunting “Amber Waves,” a perfect reflection of various sonic elements explored throughout the previous tracks. Cain’s voice floats ethereally through dark instrumentals leaving us with the nearly indistinguishable line, “I can’t feel anything.”
The slow, atmospheric sound is definitely different from Cain’s previous works. “Perverts” demands commitment from listeners not familiar with this dark and ambient genre and perhaps calls for a new audience.
The album’s failure to continue exploring the story of Ethel Cain as a character from “Preacher’s Daughter” is surely a let-down for some fans. Instead, the new project explores sinister themes of perversion and sin that may not be palatable for some previous listeners.
Despite Cain’s change in style, many praise her experimentation. “Perverts” effectively subverts expectations and creates a wild atmosphere of anticipation and fear through unexpected instrumentation and lack thereof. So, embrace the darkness and let Ethel Cain’s perverse soundscape envelop your reality.
