Ethel Cain’s Perverts album review    

Ethel Cain’s second studio album, Perverts, released January 8th, 2025, tells a story about the exploration of queerness and sexual liberation while fighting an internalized religion-based shame. 

Perverts is a stark contrast to the folky, pleasant sound of her first album, Preacher’s Daughter. 

It relies heavily on Paulstretch for much of the ambience and droning, which makes up a good portion of the tracks. The introduction alone is a ten-minute track consisting of droning and the occasional spoken word. 

The majority of the album hardly constitutes being called music, and Cain spoke on her Tumblr blog that Perverts was more so intended to be an erotic art piece than consumable music. The shortest track on the entire album is six minutes and forty seconds, the longest being “Pulldrone,” which is fifteen minutes and fourteen seconds. 

When asked about Pulldrone, Cain said she “hit record, closed [her] eyes, and then played [her] hurdy-gurdy until [she] felt the need to stop.” 

She took much creative freedom and liberty in this album, and many say it’s her most experimental work to date. Perverts is made up of droning, dark ambient types of sound, extremely different from any of her previous works. 

Cain made her mark as a folk artist, and now that she’s branching out, many fans are displeased with the new sound. However, she has received high praise from popular magazines such as Clash, NME, and Slant.

Overall, while very distinct from her usual sound, the album is a one of a kind experience.