Creative and dark, Ethel Cain’s ‘Perverts’ descends into the ambient abyss

By Emelia Gauch     1/14/25 10:24pm

What might Eve hear when she, in her shame, is ousted from the Garden of Eden? 

On “Perverts,” the most recent project from Ethel Cain, also known as Hayden Anhedönia, Cain seems to suggest drones. 

Compiled of nine tracks, with an 89-minute long runtime, “Perverts” explores shame and ,as the name suggests, perversion, not to mention many other thematic and philosophical threads, through experimental, repetitive and cyclical soundscapes.

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“Perverts” begins in prayer with its first and eponymous track. Cain sings the hymn “Nearer My God, To Thee” through the fuzzy static of a radio or mixtape. Discordant harmonizing voices accompany the hymn before the song becomes ambient sound, or “sonic negative space.” A vague muffled voice emerges from the ambiance, telling us “Heaven has forsaken the masturbator” and “No one you know is a good person/Fast, reckless driving often leads to slow, sad music,” teasing what might be to come.

“Punish,” the second song on “Perverts,” is perhaps most similar to Cain’s previous work on her debut album “Preacher’s Daughter.” The most musically traditional track, Cain’s trembling and airy voice croons over simple piano chords. The volume crescendos as Cain repeats, “I am punished by love.” The song, originally about a pedophile, is fittingly creepy and disturbing, yet lyrically vague enough to offer room for interpretation.

“Housofpyscoticwomn” introduces the beating sounds of a drone above, which emerges repeatedly in “Perverts.” The muffled voice returns to offer words on purity, innocence, and love as monstrous creaks and moans fade in and out. Towards the end, the voice repeats, “I love you,’” “When you were young, you said you wished that someone loved you/I do,” and “I love you.” It’s unclear who the voice is meant to be: Cain, the narrator or God.

Avoidant attachment styles take center on “Vacillator,” which incorporates a simple ghostly drum beat that does not change or falter, alongside humming voices, lightly plucked strings and Cain’s soft voice, requesting of us, “If you love me, then keep it to yourself.” 

Similarly, the fifth track on “Perverts,” “Onanist” has a sound to match its title. The word “onanist” refers to a chronic masturbator, and the song features a growing reverberating and crackling noise that gets louder and louder only to stop suddenly. There is no satisfying moment of sonic completion, only the words “It feels good” over a horror movie-like fade out.

“Pulldrone,” the longest song on the album, spans just over 15 minutes. It is a monologue that shifts into the buzz of something overhead, a drone flying up and down that becomes almost violin-like, whose hum becomes the music. The overbearing and mechanical sounds of “Pulldrone” are offset by the slow piano and guitar that defines the next track, “Etienne,” a needed respite.

The track “Thatorchia” – a word invented by Cain – has echoing harmonizations and light discordant electric guitar strums, and builds in volume through buzzing notes and a background machine-like beeping. Like in “Onanist,” the building noise is abruptly halted, and the pleasure of a crescendo is destroyed.

The album finishes with “Amber Waves,” a title that references the poem “America the Beautiful.” In “Amber Waves,” Cain tries to convince us, “I’ll be alright,” while describing the murky highs and lows of drug addiction as well as catatonia, as increasing drug use fails to provide the comfort that it once did. According to Cain, Amber is the “personification of love cast aside to get high,” a love that the singer clings to as she deceives herself (and the listener) that she doesn’t need anyone or anything, that “what you do/Is nothing to me, to me” over gentle and haunting guitar plucks.

Like with Cain’s previous work, a disturbing and captivating thread of violence runs throughout “Perverts.” Unlike her prior work, however, this darkness isn’t hiding under an indie pop facade. Rather, it hides in what goes unspoken.   

“Perverts” follows a formula of ambient sound-heavy tracks followed by slowcore airy instrumental ones, striking a careful balance between experimentation, discordance and melody. Still, the album demands time, attention and energy, which can feel frustrating at certain points — especially when you are eight minutes into “Pulldrone” and still have seven to go. This may have been purposeful on Anhedönia’s part, but that does not change the listeners' experience.

It’s worth noting that “Perverts” is not called an “album” by Hayden Anhedöniais and instead referred to primarily as a “project.” In this vein, “Perverts” is perhaps best looked at as art. Listening is not necessarily easy, accessible or casual, but is nonetheless haunting and rewarding for those willing to venture into the darkness. 

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