The Daily Spin, January 2
Ethel Cain | Preacher's Daughter
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023. We’re on episode 2. Normally, Mondays will be new music from around the stratosphere - but today, with things so early on (and a dearth of options from the end of 2022), I’m choosing a wildcard pick.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Preacher’s Daughter (2022)
Artist: Ethel Cain
Link:
I was previously unfamiliar with Ethel Cain prior to my girlfriend texting me frantically - “drop everything, listen to this NOW” - and, as the wonderful partner I am, I threw my headphones on, took a little look, and I am so glad that I did.
Preacher’s Daughter, Cain’s May release, tells a haunting tale of American dystopia, the ruins of a Southern Baptist upbringing lingering around a woman unsure what to make of her options to go forward.
Cain, too, seems unsure at times about her next steps - in her first full-length release, she wavers between leaning towards the sort of music that will land her at the center of the spotlight with American Teenager, before brilliantly pivoting with A House In Nebraska and the rest of the album into the sort of gothic post-rock that I can’t help but love - despite the fact that it’s very much a venture into the niche. She’s very much nailed down the Lana del Rey ethos if instead of dreamy California-tinged rock, it was hailing to an abandoned church in a small town in the Midwest.
This is not a short venture - clocking in at 75 minutes over 13 tracks, with four of those seven minutes or longer (and one at an astounding nine minutes), Cain takes her sweet time reaching a song’s apex, yet the leisurely pace doesn’t bother me, as I feel it fits the record by and large.
Though I’ve not the context of an upbringing the same as hers to bring depth to the song, the weighty, emotional tone of her vocals over uneasy instrumentals does the work in essence, keeping me invested and maximizing the emotional impact.
Where the record loses points - and truly, it barely does that - is that there’s a dearth of replayability to the record at times. The songs run a little long, a little samey, a little uninteresting. It’s beautifully orchestrated, but even the best strings wear thin over time - much like the Americana Ethel Cain speaks to.
Rating: 8.9/10
Best Tracks: Televangelism, Ptolemaea
Worst Tracks: Thoroughfare