More Ethel-cal Cain-sumption
a Continued Conversation on the Cancellation & re-branding my Song of the Summer contest
Hi! I did not expect the post to be seen by so many people and I’ve gained some new subscribers, so thanks! I initially wrote this essay assuming maybe 10 people (most of whom would be family and friends) would read it. With that in mind, I wanted to make a few amendments to the piece based on some comments I received. My essay focused on the invalid criticism against Hayden, but there certainly were many valid ones too. I also sort of accidentally wrote the end of my Song of the Summer Contest into my Ethel Cain post, so let’s turn that around while we’re at it!
Mainly: I wanna re-emphasize that if you saw any of these racist comments and were offended by them that I think you are more than valid in not wanting to support Ethel Cain as a musician anymore. I did not see many but even the few screenshots I saw were undeniably racist. I flippantly refer to it as “edgy racism” in my piece and I want to amend that too; There’s nothing edgy or funny about those comments regardless of when they were made or how old Anhedönia was at the time. I completely get feeling betrayed by them. The point of my essay was not to assuage Anhedönia of wrongdoing or to tell the people that were hurt by the comments that they are too sensitive. Like, I do question anyone who says much more than “I’m good on Ethel Cain, but you do you” and walks away from this1. But I’m also more than ready to renounce my fandom of Cain depending on what surfaces regarding her boyfriend and if she continues to support him. The initial thread with all of the allegations (valid or otherwise) has been deleted.
Truthfully, I’m not even a crazy fan of Ethel Cain. I’m a fan, no doubt- I liked Preacher’s Daughter, but it’s by no means an all-time fave. Honestly, I’m mostly excited to see trans voices raised up in the culture. I think Cain has the potential to be relatable if she continues broadening her pop palette: we already saw it organically with tracks like Crush which vent viral on Tik Tok, and I kinda saw Fuck Me Eyes as the feminine equivalent to American Teenager, which explores more masculine mythologies and had some traction too. With that said, people who were hurt by Anhedönia’s comments deserve some cool up and coming voices too: so I’m gonna shout out some queer musicians who don’t have shitty racist screenshots (at time of writing…)
Honestly, we haven’t really had a trans musician make it huge yet, not really. Kim fumbled it from the get-go. And while many of us have endless respect for SOPHIE there’s something kind of pedestalizing and dehumanizing about the way she’s talked about imo. Similarly to SOPHIE, Arca is undeniably seen as a visionary but I don’t find her music relatable. It’s cool and it’s inspiring of course, but the most relatable thing she’s done is be catty with Sevdaliza online recently.
There’s a few non-binary musicians in the mainstream like Demi and Sam, but both of their cultural coming-ups feel somewhat scandalized by transness in a way that doesn’t feel particularly winsome. I mean, is Lorde non-binary now? Did we ever get an actual answer on that Chappell?? Personally, I think yeule should be our non-binary pop icon, so let’s wake that up. And where’s the heat for Indigo De Souza, Shamir, Rosie Tucker, and Hurray For The Riff Raff while I’m at it!?
For more Ethel-cal Cain-sumption: if you’re particularly drawn to the confessionalism, religious trauma themes and experimental palette of Ethel Cain’s music I suggest Lingua Ignota. If you are drawn to Cain’s baroque instrumentation Weyes Blood might scratch the itch. Or perhaps Ahya Simone if it’s more the ethereal perspective you’re missing. And for those still in need of a true banger for the summer, look forward for some notes on some very chic LGBT artists like: underscores, Benet, Amaarae, King Princess, and LSDXOXO in the next week or so!
I could list more but I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned or go back and read all my old stuff in the meantime~
This cancellation also reminded me a lot of Doja Cat’s actually. Hayden and Amala are similar ages too.