I was admittedly incredulous walking into Ethel Cain’s crowded, cultish show at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. After the past six weeks of American media frenzy involving a New York Times (yuck) on-camera interview, doxxing internet trolls, social media profile hacking, and a hilarious yet cruel diss track by the world’s most popular “Sad Girl,” Lana Del Rey (who quickly blocked Ethel on Instagram), the drama was inescapable. Even disgraced Nicki Minaj slithered into this media cycle with her own take on Lana’s track “All About Ethel” (a nod to the classic Bette Davis film where a younger protégé steals her role), which made rounds across the internet.
It’s a fair assumption that Cain, aptly taking her stage name from the expelled, murderous brother of Abel in the Book of Genesis, has to prove herself every night on this world tour—not just musically but spiritually. This is how legends are born and how music should be: a competition. Who’s the deepest? The loudest? The softest? The sexiest? The bravest? Who’s “fake”? An “industry plant”? Lana vs. Ethel is Blur vs. Oasis for Zoomers, and this geriatric millennial (I prefer Doomer) came with an open heart. Gay men love a catfight, and this is amanha DIVAS LIVE CELEBRITY DEATH MATCH in the making. Ethel came with an axe to grind.
Her band’s sonic and visual precision were transcendent, crossfading genres from freak folk to country-western Americana harmonics to harsh noise death drones. Cloaked in darkness, shrouded by faux oak moss trees and surrounded by pussywillows—the American equivalent of a British moor—Ethel, shielded by an enigmatic cross, cast a witchy silhouette emanating songs of a siren. It was a true invocation reminiscent of Nico, Mazzy Star, Dead Can Dance, Sunn O))), and Merzbow, climaxing with an ethereal chant obliterated and electrocuted into hell and beyond by the guitarist’s overwhelming feedback drone strike, visually amplified by a pulsating white strobe light. It was like watching an angel die in a dream.
The performance was arresting and dynamic, culminating with a standing ovation during the 27-year-old’s encore, which included her pop hits “Crush” and “American Teenager.” The Cocteau Twins and Curve would be proud, and I understand why Lana Del Rey is scared. Run, don’t walk, when Ethel comes to your hometown!
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