When someone is looking for a good character-driven story, they’ll find themselves turning on a movie or picking up a book. Pressing play on an album rarely crosses one’s mind because this isn’t where most of these stories are told, but Hayden Anhedönia is breaking this mold.
Anhedönia, also known by her stage name Ethel Cain, is recognized for her southern gothic style of music. She has three albums, two of which follow the story of Ethel Cain, the protagonist most of her music has been written about.
Ethel Cain is a young woman whose story we follow from the beginning of her romance with Willoughby Tucker to her death at the hands of Isaiah Abram. Anhedönia has said in a livestream that Ethel “grabbed her and wanted her to share her story,” showing how close she feels to her.
“Preacher’s Daughter” is Anhedönia’s first album and explores Ethel’s life — starting in her small hometown to her untimely end far away from anyone she ever knew. She’s able to capture Ethel’s emotions in the instrumentals of her songs. In “Televangalism,” you can feel the sorrow Ethel feels through the piano as Anhedönia plays; this song was recorded on the spot with nothing written beforehand, making it even more emotionally exposed because it’s what Anhedönia was feeling in the moment for Ethel.
Anhedönia’s second album is “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You,” and it tells the tale of Ethel’s relationship with her lover Willoughby Tucker. Anhedönia tells Ethel and Willoughby’s love story in vivid detail, writing lyrics like “I never meant to hurt you / But somehow, I knew I would / Will it be like this forever? (Forever) / Forever? (Forever) / I’d reach into your body and fix you if I could / Will I feel like this forever? (Forever) / Forever? (Forever,)” in “Waco, Texas.” Anhedönia’s ability to give the listener insight into their relationship while keeping her words poetic elevates her story in a way you wouldn’t get by just reading it as a book.
“Perverts” completely diverts from what Anhedönia is known for to write an ambient drone album. “Perverts” explores contrasting themes of pleasure and shame through minimal lyrics, which lets the instruments do the heavy lifting. Anhedönia’s composition evokes emotions of sadness and longing in the listener in how she uses certain chords and instruments.
Anhedönia hasn’t been shy when it comes to sharing the inspirations she uses in her work. She’s used various samples in her music, such as a scene from the 1970s “Little House on the Prairie” show in her song “Amber Waves.” She also cited her song “Radio Towers” as her attempt at making a “Resident Evil” save room.
Perhaps the best example is the song “Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)” which is a song Anhedönia wrote about Lee and Maren from the movie “Bones & All.” Lines like “I’ll clean up the bathtub and we’ll leave the state” directly reference moments the characters share in the film.
Anhedönia wants to take Ethel’s story outside of music in the future. She’s expressed that music isn’t her main form of creative expression; instead, it’s writing. In various interviews and livestreams, she’s talked about how she’s currently working on turning Ethel’s story into a book and eventually a movie as well.
Anhedönia gave her last performance for the album cycle of “Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You” at the music festival All Things Go on Sept 25. This marked the end of her time writing Ethel’s story, but she’s shared with fans that she’ll continue the Cain family story with Ethel’s mother, Vera Cain.