Preacher's Daughter

Ethel Cain - Preacher's Daughter
Critic Score
Based on 14 reviews
2022 Ratings: #45 / 803
Year End Rank: #19
User Score
2022 Ratings: #19
Liked by 452 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
DIY
Change, escape and identity are not easy things to navigate, and ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ is the dark, unsettling, sprawling beauty that comes out of it.
100
Sputnikmusic

Preacher’s Daughter is a record that breathes authenticity while reframing and reshaping its creator’s experiences, seemingly in hopes of finding some sense or purpose.

90
Crack Magazine
This is an album that pairs cock-rock riffs and 80s snares with thundering sludge and drone instrumentals.
90
Gigwise

Because she has, and the magic of Ethel Cain is her ability to translate that lived experience into soundscapes. Preacher's Daughter is an American epic.

90
Paste
The artist’s debut LP interweaves powerful genre influences and haunting narratives, beginning to chart the Ethel Cain lore.
90
The Line of Best Fit

There's a substance and cohesion across Preacher's Daughter that's lacking on most debuts – and yet there's clearly so much more to come from this incredible artist and the rich world she's created.

90
Clash

A heart-wrenching collection of songs that urges the listener to give themselves over to this album as much as Ethel Cain gives herself over to you.

90
The Young Folks

Ethereal and devastating, Preacher’s Daughter is a startling demonstration of talent by Ethel Cain. The album cultivates and brandishes a voice worth stopping and listening to and, ultimately, fully submerging to.

88
Northern Transmissions

Combining the storytelling of Taylor Swift’s folklore and the musical theater readiness of Spellling’s The Turning Wheel, Preacher’s Daughter comes across more like an event than any singular album.

80
Beats Per Minute
With more questions raised than answered, Cain’s unusually ambitious and fully-realised debut somehow leaves listeners craving more in spite of its wonderful, exhausting, 75 minute runtime.
80
Albumism
As a whole, the album is a sweeping Southern Gothic, with all of the odd-but-relatable characters and beautiful sadness of a Carson McCullers or Flannery O’Connor novel, as well as all of the twisted, cruel tragedy.
64
Pitchfork

On her debut album, the 24-year-old Tallahassee native briefly makes good on her instinct for mass-appeal pop anthems, but most of the 76-minute album dwells on roiling gloom and smoldering Americana.

60
The Guardian
The introspective singer explores identity and religion amid a backdrop of seedy Americana on this rich, haunting debut.
60
The Needle Drop

The music on Preacher’s Daughter could offer its harrowing narrative more support.

BaddieBaphomet
90

Huh. So I guess “Ants From Up There” might not have Album of the Year in the bag as easily as I thought.

Ethel Cain is the kind of name only a dying grandmother would have, but it’s also the pseudonym of art pop and southern gothic singer, songwriter, and producer Hayden Silas Anhedönia. Ethel Cain is also a character meant to reflect Anhedönia but if she were to not learn from the bad experiences life has thrown her way. Hayden has been self producing her own music ... read more

breakdowncry
93

brutal and unnerving storytelling, bass and riffs you can feel in the back of your spine and brain, deep cuts that go straight through the heart. ethel cain is a product of all the lana del reys and nico dollangangers of the world just a tad more polished and focused. this being her debut album but sounds like she has years of experience behind her with this album. cant wait what this woman has in store for us.

BradTasteMusic
59

Whole Lotta Reverb

Edit (55 - > 75): Going in with the reference that it is Slowcore helps a lot. It feels very dragged out. there are some huge highlights in the second half. Not an album I am jumping for joy here, but I can see how my first impression was not really fully reflective of the whole experience.

AvaisHere
92

do not let me link any album with trans religious trauma because i WILL do it on the spot

Cain
100

EASILY one of the best albums of 2022. Imagine having this as your *debut* album? You can see how much blood, sweat and tears has been put in this record, just by listening to the heartfelt and warm production. The story involving this album is so great - which could be relatable to most listeners - and definitely would be a whole movie, if it wasn't made to this. And even if you don't mind much the whole story, you can still see how the lyrics are incredible. And better yet - this was ... read more

85

don't talk to strangers taken to a whole new level

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Track List

1Family Tree (Intro)
3:41
87
2American Teenager
4:18
92
3A House In Nebraska
7:46
90
4Western Nights
6:05
83
5Family Tree
7:10
89
6Hard Times
5:03
87
7Thoroughfare
9:27
89
8Gibson Girl
5:42
87
9Ptolemaea
6:23
92
10August Underground
3:40
80
11Televangelism
3:03
83
12Sun Bleached Flies
7:36
91
13Strangers
5:44
93
Total Length: 1 hour, 15 minutes
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Added on: March 17, 2022