Revisiting Ethel Cain’s debut studio album and the lore behind it
Ethel Cain recently announced that her second studio album, “Perverts”, will be released on Jan 8, 2025. Hayden Silas Anhedönia, or her alias Ethel Cain, is a lyrical genius, her music often telling cinematic, lore- heavy stories. “Preacher’s Daughter”, Cain’s debut studio album, is a 13 song album that tells the story of Ethel Cain, her life and subsequent death, as a fictional character. Hayden occasionally does interviews in the character of Ethel, adding new details to the lore of Ethel Cain. I recently went down a rabbit hole of the Ethel Cain “Preacher’s Daughter” lore, so here is the full story of “Preacher’s Daughter”, its inspirations, and related media.
“Preacher’s Daughter” follows Ethel Cain, the daughter of a preacher in Shady Grove, Alabama. Her abusive father has recently passed away; her former lover, Willoughby Tucker, had to flee town; and Cain’s relationship with God is faltering. She seeks acceptance and an escape from her life in alcohol and various men. She accompanies one lover across state lines, but his lifestyle of crime overwhelms them, when he is shot by police after an attempted bank robbery, and Ethel becomes a fugitive on the run. Ethel “meets” a new man in Texas, however according to the missing poster for Ethel that circulated, he forced her into his truck. They drive from Texas to California, but along the way, he becomes violent and forces her into prostitution. Ultimately, he becomes possessed by the devil, who tells him to kill and cannibalize Ethel. The album ends with Ethel posthumously reflecting on the betrayal she has experienced by every man in her life: her father, her past lovers, and Jesus. Despite that, she still seeks the comfort of the Church and of Willoughby and their “house in Nebraska.”
Anhedönia, herself, is the daughter of a preacher and grew up among a Southern Baptist family in Florida. In an interview with W Magazine, she talked about the role the church played in her adolescence, saying “That small-town church was my whole world”. Anhedönia’s deep knowledge of and experience in Southern religious communities is apparent in the scenes she sets for Ethel Cain. Alongside the album, Anhedönia released additional material on her Tumblr, which is where the majority of the “lore” surrounding the album comes from, such as the missing poster for Ethel. She also gave fictional interviews as Ethel, such as the one with Teeth Magazine, which takes place before she has left Shady Grove and in which Willoughby Tucker’s name is mentioned.
If you’re searching for more media with the same themes as “Preacher’s Daughter”, I recommend starting by doing a deep dive on the album’s story and reading a breakdown of each song’s meaning.
“Bones and All”, directed by Luca Guadagnino, is a favorite of Anhedönia, and even inspired her song “Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)”. This film features a lot of the same aesthetics and themes of “Preacher’s Daughter”, such as being on the road, generational shame, and of course, cannibalization. “Bones and All” follows Maren, a young woman who is abandoned by her single father shortly after her 18th birthday, when he decides he can no longer deal with the cannibalistic hunger she was born with. She travels across America in search of her mother, who she finds out also had these cannibalistic urges, but along the way, meets Lee, another “eater”. The two instantly forge a connection, and discover their identities, while traveling across America
The novel “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn is also similar in themes and aesthetics to “Preacher’s Daughter”, following Libby Day, the sole survivor of a mass murder in rural Kansas, in which her mom and two sisters were murdered, and her older brother was arrested for the crime. Twenty-five years later, Libby is approached by a true-crime club, who believe her brother is innocent and want her to reinvestigate the case. The book features themes of child abuse, poverty, and Satanism. The backdrop of the fictional Kansas town, Kinnakee is very similar to that of the fictional Alabama town featured in “Preacher’s Daughter”, Shady Grove.
The book “Brutes” by Dizz Tate is a very similar story to the one told in “Preacher’s Daughter“, following a small town in Florida after Sammy, the beloved daughter of a local preacher, goes missing. The story is told from the perspective of a group of girls who were obsessed with Sammy, intercutting from them as thirteen year olds, to them as adults reflecting on the disappearance. This novel tells the story of what I imagine was happening back in Shady Grove, Alabama, while Ethel was missing, as she was also the once beloved daughter of a preacher.
In the months leading up to “Perverts”, I’ll be relistening to “Preacher’s Daughter” and consuming as much similar media as possible to really step into the role of a Southern preacher’s daughter this winter, and I recommend you all do the same.