Ethel Cain - Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You 

2022's Preacher's Daughter was a bit of a sleeper hit for me. I slowly checked it out over the course of the year. It was Thoroughfare and then Gibson Girl which initially caught my attention. At first I thought she was just a vibey bluesy folk artist and didn't give her the attention she deserved. I think on my year end review I put the album at like 7 or something when really it should have been number 1. In 2023 I kept on listening to it and then looking into it as well because I don't fully listen to lyrics. The whole concept and music together created this heartbreaking concept album that spoke out religion, finding independence, being safe and not so safe, trusting in the wrong people, doing what you need to do to survive, and then ending on a not so nice note. It's a beautiful and heart shattering album and has cemented Ethel Cain as an extraordinary song-writer to me. 

With this most recent album, Hayden breaks free from her label and becomes an independent artist again. Freeing herself to do what she wants with her music. This latest hurrah, Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You is essentially one long love song though with the Ethel Cain spin of sounding sad as fuck. In this review, I won't delve too deep into the lyrics as that's not what I typically gravitate towards. I listen to how the words are sung and generally not what they are saying - unless of course they're shitty people and then I won't be reviewing it at all. 

Right off the bat, I'll say my favourite songs ended up being the instrumental songs (after my initial) and that's not because I don't like her voice, because I do and it's amazing, but the vibes created on the instrumentals were just so immense. The main times I stopped and just closed my eyes were during Willoughby's Interlude and Radio Towers. Willoughby is rooted in slowcore with heavy folk and western vibes, much like Preacher's Daughter. Though there is more vibes and less moments of intense emotions and less guitar solos. Slowcore is the predominant thing happening in the signature Ethel Cain fashion. 

I'm going to try something different (for me) and go for a song by song analysis. Let's see what happens, shall we?

1. Janie: Track one opens up very slowly and continues that way for the whole 5 minute run time. This sets up the album pretty well. We are laced in reverb which creates this environment that feels like an art film. An experimental piece with heavy filters overlaid. There's not much variation in Janie until a bit later, where multiple guitars kick in and we get a deeper and darker feel. The layers of guitars creates a swirling effect and yet brings a darkness to things until we then shift back to the simplistic single guitar. Hayden's vocals are very delicate and fragile as if a small breeze could knock her over, especially in the last lines of the track. "I know you love her, but she was my sister first."

2. Willoughby's Theme: Where the first song was (pretty much) all guitars, the second track opens up for the first minute and a half with only piano (and vibes because obvs). After that we have almost a Godspeed! You Black Emperor mixed with classic Sigur Ros feel. Droning guitars and synths play off of each other creating an eerie and unsettling effect. Considering this is a theme song for Willoughby, it makes me nervous for their future. This is a close your eyes and enjoy(?) the ride. 

3. Fuck Me Eyes: The vibes completely 180 with the opening of Fuck Me Eyes. We sound like we're in an 80s romance movie now. The opening synths legit sound like something that has come out of the millions of synthwave bands. The romance vibes kind peeders, (I don't know if that's a word, but it felt right), off once the singing kicks in. From what I can gather from the lyrics it sounds like there's a town that has maybe oversexualized a young girl and it has now changed her view of the world. "I'll never be kind enough to me". Ouch. 

4. Nettles: Nettles is the first of the longer songs. We slowly enter with a calming country western feel. Slide guitars, violin,  clean guitars, and acoustic. There is something very homey feeling about the opening of this track. The vocals open up explaining "We were in a race to grow up" I know I said I don't look at the lyrics much, but you know, we all change, even between paragraphs. Also, I'm adding humour because it's a heavy album. The juxtaposition between the homey feel of the instrumentation and the lyrics is really something. The inner turmoil of our narrator is mixed with the reality of the world we live in. The flow of the song steadily increases in a comforting intensity while Hayden adds her layers of vocals and beautiful falsetto until we reach the end which rounds out much like the intro, but with the knowledge of what we've just been through. Much like the Hobbits when they return to Hobbiton. 

5. Willoughby's Interlude: We have another instrumental. On my first listen through of the album this one was of my favourites and it still definitely is. Truly, this is another close your eyes and accept the ride you're on. Take a deep breath, feel your body, start at the top and slowly weave your down through yourself. It's an interlude so let yourself be taken care of. Inhale. Exhale. 

6. Dust Bowl: Unsteady guitars open up as if waking up from a long slumber or drunken haze. I have no basis for this, but the feeling I'm getting from this song is a lover talking over their sleeping partner after a long night of mentally escaping. They know life is hard and have been struggling a long time. They are relishing in the fact that they have each other and is also worried about what the world is going to do to them. Again, not sure what the lyrics actually are, but this is the feeling that keeps coming to me as a listen. 

7. A Knock At The Door: Static, acoustic guitars and faraway vocal greet us in the opening of A Knock At The Door. There is an insistent droning behind everything that seems to be ever present and foreboding. It adds an element of unsafety. Like something is about to happen. Something is going to be ripped from our life and change our trajectory forever. The song carries on like it needs to finish what it started as it tries to ignore the impending doom that may or may not come. Everything by the end of the track becomes so over saturated that it all becomes ambient noise as we slowly fade out into Radio Towers. 

 8. Radio Towers: Quiet instrumentation on top of a beeping that could a monitor next to a hospital bed. Yet the title is Radio Tower. Is beeping some sort of communication? What is being told to us? Much like the interlude, this is another close your eyes and accept the reality that is presented to you. This transition into the final two tracks is definitely one of my favourite from the album. It's simple and repetitive, but it hits all the correct internal brain bits for me. The tape warps at the end. The Tempest is coming. 

9. Tempest: I'll say this off the top, as pointed out by my pal, Tempest has become on of the most overused name for a song in the last few years. But that's okay. Tempests are strong and furious and they push over everything in their way. Tempest in this album is a 10 minute track which isn't even the longest here. It opens quietly with ambient sounds much like waves, piano and a heavily reverbed voice. More and more instrumental accompaniment is slowly added in to build intensity. She pleads to the Tempest, "Please, just go easy on me". Three minutes the drums kick in and it gives us a sense of grounding - a sort of structural foundation to hold on to. Tempest makes me happy that Hayden isn't afraid of repetition. A lot of bands won't sit on something to emphasis the point to make a song more accessible. Ethel Cain literally sits on a piece "forever" and it's perfect. Some of my favourite songs will sit on something much like the ending of this does. 

10. Waco, Texas: We reach the end, though it will take us a bit to get there because this track is over 15 minutes long. It starts much the same as Janie all the way back at the beginning. Simple, clean guitar playing some simple chords. We've weathered the storm and now what's next? We reflect on what's to come by looking back on what we've been through. We tread familiar ground as we get a set up for Preacher's Daughter.  There's a lot to talk about with this track, but I want to keep and simple: just experience this album and let your emotions lead. If it feels dangerous then pause and let yourself rest. "When this is over, maybe then you will get your sleep."

Well, I certaintly feel different now than how I was before I started this. All the great albums do that. Ethel Cain definitely has a signature sound and it is done to perfection here. Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You is definitely not for everyone. It is slow and it takes a while to get places. Those who were fans of Preacher's Daughter should love this one as well. Other's just finding out about Ethel Cain, welcome, it's an emotional place here. This is definitely an AOTY contender for me. 

"I loved you and it hurt inside to".