Hayden Silas Anhedönia, who uses the stage name Ethel Cain, was born in Tallahassee, Florida, on March 24, 1998. She was raised in the Southern Baptist church, where her father was a preacher, and this upbringing still greatly influences her values and music. Anhedönia’s debut album, after three EP’s, is named Preacher’s Daughter, and was re
leased in 2022 to critical acclaim. Although she goes by her stage name Ethel Cain, this persona is separate from Anhedönia, and Cain is the protagonist and main character of
Preacher’s Daughter. The album opens with Cain reminiscing over the death of her father and wishing to escape from the small town she lives in. After she escapes with a man named Logan, who she knows is dangerous but doesn’t care, he pulls off a robbery but is killed by police. Finally, Ethel meets a man named Isaiah, and they quickly develop a codependent and toxic relationship. At the climax of the album, the song Ptolemaea, Isaiah becomes possessed and cannibalizes Ethel. She eventually ascends to heaven at the conclusion of the album. When speaking about her creative process, Anhedönia said “For me, the creative process is very much about self-indulgence.It’s about consuming certain types of media that I love and going places and having my little adventures. It’s about giving in”. This description of her process shows that Anhedönia uses convergent processes when creating her music, taking in things around her and creating a product rather than spitting out multiple different ideas like a divergent creative would. Anhedönia can also best be defined as a Pro-C creative, she has made major waves with her debut album, even being featured on Obama’s end-of-year playlist, but she is still fresh on the music scene. I have no doubt that she will become a big-C creative as she creates more music.References:
https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/singer-songwriter-ethel-cain-on-trusting-your-instincts/#:~:text=For%20me%2C%20the%20creative%20process,%2C%20the%20press%2C%20the%20rollout.
https://sbpress.com/2023/03/the-dark-story-of-ethel-cains-preachers-daughter/
Ethel Cain is a really cool artist, especially because she is currently going through the shift from pro-c to big-C creative, meaning her work is kind of a space of transition from one level of artistic output to a completely new one, something I think you can really see clearly in her latest album. Her ability to tell a story not just within her songs, but across the different songs in each album is really impressive and is a cool way that she adds even more creativity to an already creative body of work.
ReplyDeleteEthel Cain is so cool, her albums are an insane way to tell stories and express herself. She is also a cool person too, she recently moved to Pittsburgh, PA, my hometown, and has been spotted around by me and my friends many times. She is just amazing to interact with, especially since I am such a big fan of her work! Definitely expands the bounds of how music is thought of especially channeling the folk/indie rock intersection.
ReplyDeleteI always find it intriguing when artists have separate personas for different aspects of their work. Ethel Cain in particular has a striking and alluring tone throughout her music that's startling but also draws you in. It seems like a difficult line to walk, but she does it very well.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Ethel Cain before reading it, but her music seems like it touches a chord with a lot of people. I thought it was interesting that you chose a convergent thinker for your post, since we tend to see more divergent thinkers here.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate your thoughts about Ethel being one day a big-C creative. If she can keep producing albums that make a splash, that might happen. Thank you for your post, Grace!
I have heard the name Ethel Cain, but I never knew that her music fell into the "Southern Gothic" genre, which I love! I will have to give her a listen soon, as her concept album sounds fascinating. Your explanation of it was so interesting!
ReplyDeleteI did my first blog post and I agree with everything you said! The whole story of Preacher's Daughter is unlike anything I have seen recently. I feel like while the album is based in personal experiences, there is a story-telling aspect that is not used in music anymore. I do think Ethel Cain is a Pro-C creative, but I hope one day she reachers Big-C creative status as I feel like she greatly deserves it. I might be biased in my analysis, but I think Ethel Cain has a no skip discography and Preacher's Daughter being her first full album is inspiring to what she will do next!
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