Hayden Anhedönia, who makes music under the persona Ethel Cain, has had a meteoric rise to fame. She initially earned critical acclaim for her 2022 album,Preacher’s Daughter,and has since attracted attention for daring new music andpersonal controversyalike. Now, she’s taken over the internet yet again following the release of her newest album,Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You.An unlikelysequelto the tragic story of Ethel Cain, this album isexperimentalin both its storytelling and its musicianship, whereas its predecessor focused on more linear, expository storytelling. With this release, Anhedöniapushes the boundaries of both her genre and the conventions of theconcept album.
This Chapter in Ethel Cain’s Story Challenges Storytelling Conventions
Preacher’s Daughtertells the story of Cain escaping childhood abuse and her fundamentalist Christian upbringing, only to endure further abuse that culminates in her lover murdering her. Given its ending, this content seems like an unlikely candidate for a sequel. However, Anhedönia usesWilloughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love Younot to prolong thelinearnarrative of Cain’s life (or afterlife), but to delve deeper into specific consequential moments in Cain’s troubled life before the events ofPreacher’s Daughter. “Nettles,” for instance, delves into the complex feelings ofdomestic abuseandsexual assault survivors, while “Dust Bowl” hones in on Cain’s doomed love for a childhood sweetheart. In these ethereal tracks, Anhedöniatoys with songwriting as a storytelling medium by tapping into the true nature of memory, which is always fragmented, dreamlike, and piecemeal.
InWilloughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,Cain Takes Underground Genres Mainstream
OnWilloughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,Anhedönia also creates an immersive experience that draws attention to her unique vocal and musical techniques. After releasing her experimental album,Perverts,under her record label Daughters of Cain, Anhedönia became a polarizing figure even among her own fans for employing elements of drone, slowcore, and noise music. Because the project was deemed difficult to listen to, it developed a cult following but never went mainstream and was considered a significant departure from her work onPreacher’s Daughter.
Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,on the other hand, weaves the best of Anhedönia’s experimentalism in with the best of her signature mainstream sound. On this album, she introduces fans to stretches ofinstrumentalandambient soundand, on certain songs, appears to include the sounds of instruments being tuned and mics being calibrated. Finally, she experiments with different vocal techniques—especially on songs like “Dust Bowl,” which features lilting repetitions of words like “are” and “sure,” as though her voice has been transformed into a scratched record.
So far, Hayden Anhedönia’s career has encompassed both mainstream and experimental albums, underscoring both her artistic range and her musicianship. But it’s only now, onWilloughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,that she’s managed to integrate these disparate styles. In doing so, she’s not only created a singular narrative work destined for long-term popularity, but she’s also made the experimental more digestible and comprehensible formainstreamaudiences.
