By Jessica Thrasher, Contributor

[Daughters of Cain Records; 2025]

Rating: 6/10

Key Tracks: “Vacillator,” “Pulldrone,” “Amber Waves”

I would like to start by saying that this project bears little resemblance to the majority of Cain’s indie-alt-pop work released previously. If you are seeking more of the restless-American-summer sound she picked up (and just as quickly shed) in Preacher’s Daughter, one might suggest that you look at her work pre-dating P.D. and giving Eps Golden Age and Inbred a listen, as they are both much more musical in nature than Perverts. I found Perverts, while a skillfully produced collection of haunting, ambient tracks that I have not yet heard the likeness of before, relatively unlistenable as far as casual, sociable music goes. Still, I ask that you please hear me out, as it has earned its flowers for exactly what it is.

This album stood out immediately with its ability to evoke levels of horror and dread I thought inhabitable on Spotify. The release was timed to align with a supremely empty and cold part of the year; thus a dark and wet sound is maintained for emphasis. Cain keeps many thematic elements of religious trauma, exploitation of certain vulnerability and their relationship with the church as a queer person. She introduces a concept of her own called “the ring, the great dark, and proximity to god” which she explains in depth on her personal YouTube channel, and explores in this project. She has specified, however, that Perverts is not under the Ethel Cain lore umbrella.

Read more: Album Review: Lambrini Girls – Who Let The Dogs Out

The titular opening track, “Perverts” begins with a broken rendition of “Nearer, my God, to Thee” followed by Cain informing the listener that “Heaven has forsaken the masturbator” and a truly chilling set of hollow tones and breaks of sound. The third track—and my favorite of the more ambient tracks—is “Houseofpsychoticwomn” for its solicitation of an uncanny, suffocating feeling by repetition of a single phrase and baring confession to its listener over industrial cacophony. Of the sung tracks, “Vacillator” gives way to the namesake of the album, somehow, in a very romantic light. Cain softly, angelically, explains, “if you love me, keep it to yourself.”

In “Pulldrone,” the album’s focal point, a harrowed voice recites something that is vaguely shaped like a prayer but mutilated to form a different silhouette. Cain states each of the 12 Pillars of Simulacrum, exploring her proximity to god theory.  The pillars recount ways people will try to touch god which will ultimately fail to enlighten or save: “Four; Assimilation Lo, wellspring of knowledge, of feeling, of sensation. Beauty, overwhelming. I will dislocate my jaw to fit it all in…Six; Delineation I want to know what God knows and I will be with him. Sent over the edge, I sigh. Flush against the veil, I sing…Amen.” Because of the stretches of unsettling sounds or strained, soliloquizing voices, the relief of two or three delicate and alluring ballads is eagerly welcomed.  “Amber Waves” is a 11:32 minute song that resolves the EP in a way that seems warm compared to the rest of the record, despite being about addiction, an infamously cold and secluded experience.

I hate to dock points for creativity, and this is not what I intend to do by scoring this lower than other music publications, this did not feel like a collection of songs that can be fairly judged as an EP or album. While this is undoubtedly a piece of art, made apparent in its ability to provoke gruesome emotion and disastrous thought in the listeners, I would typically not put this on as I would her other albums or EPs. Until ‘utter horror and haunting’ ambient music becomes (even adjacent to) an established genre, this album will be considered a strong six, and a likely point of inspiration for potential new dark ambient albums. Cain leveraged the function of ‘less is more’ in a way that resulted in something that felt truly isolating to listen to.

Listen here:

https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/3kZk3M80kQTJus45lgRKyv?utm_source=generator