Where Does Ethel Cain Exist?
Hayden Anhedönia's alter ego is maybe the most poignant and profound musical persona of all time.
Music is the most common art form where aliases are used; whether it be a band or stage name, most artists take on some sort of identity through which they share their music. Beyond simply a name, some musicians have created entire alter egos or characters to express new ideas. The most famous of these are perhaps the characters of David Bowie, like his extraterrestrial rock star Ziggy Stardust or the fame-fractured Aladdin Sane. While these creative roles can be fun and expressive, there is likely no other musical persona with as much gravitas than that of Hayden Anhedönia’s.
Anhedönia is much better known by her Southern Gothic alter ego, Ethel Cain. Ethel Cain is much more than simply a stage name, she is a character that Anhedönia inhabits (or inhabits her), a separate identity through which she released her acclaimed debut album Preacher’s Daughter in 2022. Since its release her rise to indie stardom has been rapid, participating in fashion campaigns for Miu Miu and Gucci, and landing on festival lineups of the likes of Coachella, Primavera Sound, and Bonnaroo.
While much of the mystery that once shrouded Ethel Cain has dissipated, what remains fascinating is the artistic relationship between Anhedönia and Ethel. For Ethel to be so deeply intertwined with Anhedönia’s own life and experiences, yet still act as an artistic vehicle to tell stories through and have her own beginning, middle, and (as written into Preacher’s Daughter) end, takes huge amounts of creativity, courage, and self-reflection. It also means that Ethel Cain exists in a very delicate plane of reality, where she isn’t simply a character nor is she entirely her creator; she is a version of Anhedönia that she says could have existed in reality, but it is because of her inception that she lives only through music.
It’s important to know at least a brief biography of Anhedönia to understand how her life intersects with the story of Ethel Cain. Anhedönia grew up in a small Southern Baptist community near Tallahassee where her father was a deacon. Homeschooled by her mother, a young Anhedönia was not exposed to much pop culture or secular media other than her grandparents’ horror movie collection and true-crime TV marathons. Always feeling different than her peers, her sheltered upbringing did not grant her the space or tolerance to explore these feelings. At age twelve she told her mother she was gay, and was then promptly sent to religious therapy. In an interview with the New York Times, she recounted:
“My therapist was the first person in my whole life to ever tell me I wasn’t going to hell. I guess she didn’t understand the assignment."