Anhedönia and her alter ego Cain share many parallels, with Andedönia growing up in a tight-knit rural Southern Baptist town, being home-schooled by her father, the town's deacon. At age 16 her coming out as gay, followed by coming out as transgender, sent shockwaves through the small town, setting up the background for Ethel. The name Ethel Cain is in homage to the biblical story of Abel and Cain, which Andedönia has stated is a biblical story that has stuck with her due to its disturbing nature, with the inspiration for this character coming to her one night in 2018.
Preacher’s Daughter sits at 1 hour and 16 minutes in length, and we meet Cain in 1991 in her hometown of Shady Grove, Alabama, just a decade after the death of her preacher father. Through the album's 13 track epic, we follow Cain on her condemned journey, experiencing her complex and challenging relationship with religion, her preacher father and the abuse she suffered at his hands; her doomed relationships and her murder and final cannibalization. The depth of the album’s lore is incredibly impressive, and to such a scale even on the hundredth listen a new layer will always be uncovered. Whilst the topic matter is dark and complex, the music itself is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, using dreamlike ethereal haze and exorcism screams to captivatingly tell its tale.
Whilst the topic matter is dark and complex, the music itself is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing
The record starts with 'Family Tree(Intro)' a vintage recording of a southern preacher, whose identity has not been revealed, setting the stage for the album's thematic explorations. 'American Teenager', the following track and third single from the record, one of the few upbeat tracks, which sounds like a long lost 1980’s solidarity anthem. 'House in Nebraska', Anhedönias self-proclaimed favorite song to perform, is a beautifully tragic, overwhelming cinematic slow ballad, where Cain mourns and longs for her former lover Willougby who left their hometown prior to the records events. The pain and emotion in Cain’s voice is complemented by the powerful instrumentation through the track’s 7.46 run time.
'Western Nights', explores Cain's new relationship and her loyalty to this relationship despite the situations she finds herself in. 'Family Tree' builds on this and explores the violence in her family in its multiple forms with 'Hard Times' showing Cain's inability to escape this familial violence at the hands of her now dead father. 'Throughfare', the longest song at 9.27 is a traditional country epic, that changes the albums tone and pace, creating an addictive sonic collage.
'Gibson Girl' starts Cain's death spiral as she arrives in California with her new lover Isiah, who drugs and pimps her out resulting in Cain's detachment from reality. 'Ptolemaea', a reference to Dante's inferno, is the albums darkest track, with Cain losing herself to the all-encompassing darkness surrounding her, and this resulting in her death. 'August Underground' and 'Televangelism' are two distinct instrumental songs on the album, providing the listener time to reflect on the journey so far as well as providing the soundtrack of Cain's assentation to heaven.
Preacher’s Daughter is a musical masterpiece sonically, lyrically and conceptually, with the seamless blending of classic rock, religion, sexuality, violence, death, and pure emotion
On 'Sun Bleached Flies' Cain reflects on her life and death, her detachment from religion, and longing for her true love Willoughby, repeating over and over that all she has left is that she can pray. The albums closer 'Strangers' is just as tragic as its predecessors with Cain stating how she just misses her mother, hoping that they’ll one day be reunited, with Cain repeating 'am I making you feel sick?’ in reference to her cannibalization and the listeners journey over cymbal crashes, synth distortion and moody guitar riffs.
Preacher’s Daughter is a musical masterpiece sonically, lyrically and conceptually, with the seamless blending of classic rock, religion, sexuality, violence, death, and pure emotion, leaving the listener emotionally devastated. If inspired to listen to the entire record that is ideal but if only three songs I would recommend: 'House in Nebraska', 'American Teenager' and 'Strangers'.