Perverts has been talked about a lot since its release on January 8: some admit to being destabilized by what Ethel Cain offers with her second studio album. To those who are intrigued, you have now been warned: this is not a record that you listen to to relax or take your mind off things, but rather to live a unique experience that might perhaps be the musical equivalent of a horror film. Tension and chaos. Anguish and torment. Marked by gothic drone, slowcore and dark ambient sounds, to which is added the muffled voice of the American singer-songwriter, the atmosphere of Perverts thus pushes the listener to their limits, to the point of suffocation, particularly with the almost agonizing slowness of each piece. And if we draw a parallel between the vicissitudes – climatic catastrophes, wars, misogynistic speeches, threats coming from all sides – of the time and this hyper-troubling whole, listening becomes almost prophetic.
Perverts
★★★★
Ethel Cain, Daughters of Cain Records
