Hayden Silas Anhedönia, better known by her musical persona Ethel Cain’s new album Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You is a Southern gothic portrait of an unrelenting upbringing in a God fearing America. It’s like reading a novel where the plot is secondary, but the setting and overall vibe is integral. For the most part, it consists of sprawling soundscapes, sludgy reverberated guitars, and morose, heart wrenching ambience.
The album explores themes of generational trauma. “Dustbowl,” a song that begins with a sad country feel, later erupting into a beautiful cacophony of heavy rock drums and driving guitars, tells the story of an aching love made more difficult by the world they were born into. She sings, “grew up hard, fell down harder” and goes on to say her love interest, Willoughby, could have gone on to great things if his father “didn’t leave all this hell for you.” There is a desire to escape, but no means to do so.
Later, in the 15-minute closing track “Waco, Texas,” Ethel talks about wanting to have children, but Willoughby has been “wondering how you’re gonna feed them” in a world where “love is not enough.” In classic Ethel Cain style, this track begins small and understated, gradually building. As the pain of the narrative becomes more apparent, the instrumentals become more guttural. However, I can’t help but wonder if this song would have been more impactful if it were half the length.
Anhedönia has stated that this album, and her musical process as a whole, is self-indulgent, creating worlds as a form of personal entertainment, weaving the characters together as if playing with dolls. The self-indulgence is apparent in the excessive run time of the individual songs and album as a whole. It is fairly unmarketable as the average music listener’s attention span dwindles every day. The only song that comes close to something that could be a ‘hit’ is “Fuck Me Eyes.” With its glitzy, ’80s style synths and guitars, it has a similar appeal to 2022 single “American Teenager,” but with less structure and a runtime upwards of six minutes.
Yes, the album is a very slow burner, with few hooks to latch on to leading the mind to frequently wander off elsewhere. However, this is a cult fandom. Ethel Cain is so exceptional at world building that, if you like the aesthetic of a modernized Great Depression, tragic love, Christian guilt and a painful small town upbringing, you will love this world. Anhedönia has said before that her original creative dream was to make a movie but she didn’t have the funds and so she poured that passion into music. It is dramatic and cinematic, you can see the world unfolding around you as you listen.
