Perverts

Ethel Cain

Ashley Sudeta

After gaining mainstream fame from her 2022 album, “Preacher’s Daughter,” Ethel Cain has begun the unintentional culling of her fanbase by releasing “Perverts.” The 90-minute album consists of nine songs and dips into drone and ambient music, setting it apart from Cain’s prior albums.

“Perverts’” sound is characterized by long droning, mechanical humming, moaning, and sparse, but repetitive lyrics. “Pulldrone” exemplifies this well, beginning with Cain’s quiet, muffled vocals over nothing but the natural ringing in your ears. A grinding drone, made by Cain’s hurdy gurdy, joins in for the last 12 minutes of the song. The other titles offer delicious variations of these noises, with the exception of “Amber Waves,” which more closely resembles songs from “Preacher’s Daughter.”

Cain remained loyal to her iconic religious themes, but also drew inspiration from the Bruce Mansfield Power Plant in Shippingport, PA, and Miracle Village—a Florida community of sex offenders. She explores the various flavors of perversion that exist, seemingly fueled by desire and obsession, pushing and pulling us from God. Before it was extended into an album, “Perverts” was an EP, with each song representing a different type of pervert. The title track was meant to represent a man with a psychosexual attraction to power plants, “Punish” a man who hurts himself after being shot and exiled for being a pedophile, and “Amber Waves” someone addicted to sedatives.

Should you listen to “Perverts”? Although the album was not made with the intention of scaring off fake fans, it would be foolish to call it broadly palatable. It’s medicine, not candy—it will coat your mouth and put a pit in your stomach. Listen to “Perverts” if there’s something wrong with you.