I'm just a child but I'm not above violence

     

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's top 50 albums of 2022. 

#23 : Preacher's Daughter - Ethel Cain


Over 75 gruelling minutes, Hayden Anhedönia charts out the life of her Ethel Cain persona – a story of sexual abuse and slavery, absentee boyfriends, abduction and, in the album’s final tracks, untimely death. It’s a hazy, psychedelic southern gothic bildungsroman that’s excruciatingly slow, musically and conceptually confronting, and meticulous in its worldbuilding. Cain couldn’t have conceived of a more striking introduction – a star-making debut that revels in its own alienation. 


I've never heard of Ethel, but I have to say that The Guardian aren't really selling it to me with the description above.  Which makes me intrigued as to what I'm about to hear.


And I'd have to say I really liked this.  Yes, I obviously thought it was a "hazy, psychedelic southern gothic bildungsroman" - but don't we all, darling?  I think this is the sort of thing Lana Del Rey should be doing - it's very atmospheric, sounds lovely over headphones and just builds and builds as time goes on.  Her voice is a big part of it, but the instrumentation also works well - at times it's surprisingly Pink Floyd like.  Southern Gothic Pink Floyd - who knew that was what the world needed?  "Family Tree" jumped out at me, but I liked it all - it's definitely one that's worth another listen or two.


No time spent in the chart for this but it does have quite a sizeable Wikipedia entry which tells us "Preacher's Daughter is an Americana, pop rock, folk, ethereal, alt-pop, goth-pop, and dark ambient album with influences from slowcore, heartland rock, classic rock, cock rock, sludge, gospel, industrial, noise, horror-electronica and drone" - I hope that's cleared that all up for you!  Whatever it is, the critics were very taken with it - somewhat excessively, some might suggest.


"Customers also listened to" Weyes Blood, Zelia Day and Suki Waterhouse - none of whom I can tell you about, but I suspect I'll be meeting Weyes soon.

#49 : Pompeii - Cate Le Bon



Pompeii is a tango with fear and suffering – Cate Le Bon’s attempt to reckon with her anxieties about the state of the world without letting go of the sinewy grooves that have worked their way to the heart of her opalescent post-punk. Its lyrics are drawn from ancient tales, essays on architecture, diary entries, sharply contrasting modernist elan with stark confessional – a rarity for a Cate Le Bon album. Much like its grimy sax and off-kilter rhythms, most of Pompeii’s questions lie unanswered long after the album is over. We’re left with an image of Le Bon, dancing amid the rubble of civilisation: “Raise a glass in a season of ash / And pour it over me.”


I think I listened to a Cate Le Bon album once and was pretty meh about it - but can't remember any more than that.  So let's see what we've got here.


Hmm.  It's kinda like a happier gothier female Joy Division - a bit too challenging for my precious ears, I'm afraid.  I guess St Vincent would probably be a close reference point - but I generally like her stuff and Cate's stuff just didn't click for me.  Not at first listen anyway and it also felt like it went on for hours - it was a very long 43 minutes.  It's a scary album cover too!


It did manage to sneak into the charts though - one week at #70, which makes it her most successful album so far.  She's also got a Wikipedia entry which features a whole five sentences, the most bizarre being "musically, Pompeii takes on "penetrating" art pop" - what does that even mean?


"Customers also listened to" Julia Jacklin (I don't see the resemblance myself), Laura Veirs, Aldous Harding and Indigo Sparke - all of whom are very much not my area of expertise.  As is going to stay the case for Cate Le Bon, I'm afraid.


A definite yes and a definite no for me this time around.


#25-24 - One yes, one no
#21-20 - One nearly yes, one absolute no

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