The Art of Expression Through Composition
A peep at "Preachers Daughter" by Ethel Cain.
Recently, I have been given and have been finding albums that have so much character, plot, and audible scenery that have just blown me away for example Little Simz 2021 record "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert" with its astonishing orchestral production and phenomenal, relatable lyrics.
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert by Little Simz released on September 3rd 2021, received critical acclaim with outlets such as The Telegraph giving it 5/5 stars.
This album is very akin to that record, but on a whole different level!
The album starts off very mysterious with a faint spoken word message in the background with it then introducing you to Cain, who I was not expecting to sound so elegant! Her vocal talent is incredible from start to finish with it almost giving off a classical feel to me, kinda akin to Laufey for example.
The first real track “American Teenager” amazed me while listening to it. First of all the production is outstanding on this song and the rest of the record with the synths during the chorus being so electric and full of life that just goes so perfectly with Ethel’s voice along with these soft but punchy drums in the background.
Click the cover to listen to the song and click here to watch the music video!
For most records I listen to, the lyrical content is always the last thing on my radar because outside of Hip Hop, most of it is relatable but not that crazy in terms of the writing or articulation itself… not here though! This album is full of lines that stick out to me because of her vocal performance on all of the tracks.
Everything she sings, I can feel that she means it with some of my favourites off this track consisting of her asking Jesus if he’s alive, and if so, why does she feel so alone which I found very sad but emotionally enticing.
Same with the following track “A House in Nebraska” but on top of the great lyrics was a eerie slow piano with Cain’s message getting more and more impactful as the instrumental builds and builds up sonically for around 6 minutes until everything but that starting piano goes away… AND THEN BOOM, Guitars! I love guitar solos and they show up multiple times on this album.
Speaking of minutes, this album is impressive! There are multiple tracks that are wayyyyy over the average song length for its time (as TikTok fried NewGens attention spans giving us 2 minute 30 second songs that gets cut into a 15 second clip for a shit dance video).
I adore that the tracks are so long though, every song on this album feels like a complete thought and puzzle with not a single piece being missing out. A lot of albums nowadays barely feel like complete thoughts or ideas that were all made for each other, but Ethel breaks the cycle and says
“Fuck you! I’m making a 9 minute song where I musically and lyrically express EVERYTHING!”
and I fucking adore that!
It almost makes this album feel like a Movie almost like Lupe Fiasco’s “Drogas Wave” with that album, despite having a 1hr and 38m runtime, still flowing smoothly thanks to its consistency and the same applies with this album.
Apple Music | Spotify | Tidal
By “Western Nights”, I realised the magic of getting out everything in one go and I think more artists should try and do what Ethel did on this project. The theme and feel persists throughout the album with the production still being the highlight for me through the record with you feeling like you’re at the place Ethel is in listening to her vent like a little bitch baby to you with her tears balling out.
Some highlights that I wrote down were the guitars and singing on “Family Tree” and “Throughfare” along with the lyric:
“Now that I’m with you, I know where I’m heading”
(aw)
and the mini outro with bongos and strings at the end of the track.
Cains voice and production was so soothing on “Hard Times”. I loved the atmosphere on “Gibson Girl” along with the drums and outro verse “you wanna love/fuck me right now” I like how she switches between those two words as a lot of people get stuck feeling that way about a significant other or crush.
“Ptolemaea” was great, “Televangelism” felt like the finale to the album but I’m happy it continued because the next track “Sun Bleached Flies”… oh my oxygen. “It all comes back to meeeee” with the sparkly synths along with it giving off a Tyler the Creator outro feeling with the soulful, emotional yet jazzy feel I got throughout the song and finally “Strangers” where I was just dumbfounded that this is album that really exists.
Overall, This album showed me that one, other artists aren’t trying enough, and two, how us humans can really take how we feel, musically pour it all out into a .wav file, CD or Vinyl and give it out to anyone that’s interested. You can experience what some else is currently or was previously going through just via a bunch of noise that collectively sounds great together.
I have not played the rest of her discography so I don’t know what to expect, but for now with this being my introduction, I can safely say that Cain is a master of composition when it comes to music and can truly craft one of the most beautiful and impactful albums of this decade, two years in.
What is your favourite track off this LP?
Which album in her discography show I play next?
And if Jesus is here, why do many feel so alone?
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JIXCO 2025-2026
