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

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Ethel Cain is a singer-songwriter who has ridden a wave of popularity spawning from her 2022 album Preacher's Daughter. The record's vivid conceptual portrayal of rural living, vibrant coming-of-age narratives, and willingness to tackle difficult subject matter made it a critical darling and developed Ethel an instant cult following. Personally, I liked but didn't love the record, with my biggest complaint being the length of the album overall and the length of the individual tracks that often extend past what feels necessary for their emotional impact. That issue extended to her record Perverts earlier this year. It proved divisive with her fanbase as she abandoned many of her folk and singer-songwriter conventions in favor of an indulgence into the world of drone. But on Willoughby Tucker, Ethel returns to her familiar style and encounters similar pros and cons. 

I went into Willoughby with high expectations based on its two singles. The longer, darker, and more somber "Nettles" came first, and it features some brand new Ethel lyrical gems. "It wasn't pretty like the movies, it was ugly like what they all did to me," stood out immediately, and I love hearing it every time it pops up. The track itself is rambling and expansive across its 8-minute runtime, but it has such a grounding coming-of-age narrative at its core. It touches on so many inescapable elements of the journey throughout, and there's always something new to adore. I also loved the second single, "Fuck Me Eyes." Ethel's narrative unfolds letting cheeky sexual innuendo slip through. It reminds me of a thematically brighter version of "Gibson Girl" with some of the summery flare of "American Teenager." 

The two singles pop up on the album's pretty compelling opening run. The record has a strong narrative throughline that begins on the opener "Janie." Sonically, it's the kind of dreary, folksy slowcore I was expecting from the record. But it sets up the story of Ethel essentially losing her best friend to a new boyfriend, something she doesn't exactly take well. The title character's introduction comes on the fittingly titled "Willoughby's Theme," a nearly five-minute instrumental. It begins with a gentle piano motif but hides a lot more than meets the eye, even if the runtime is still slightly excessive. 

As good as the record starts, I think it ends even stronger. "Tempest" is the penultimate moment and takes a slow-build introduction featuring references to self-harm and even suicide. Its eventual eruption is one of the most memorable moments on the entire record. Ethel's vocals feel truly all-consuming as distant drums slowly plod out and boom away indefinitely into the distance. While its 10-minute runtime is obviously long and it doesn't have much to say across the last few minutes, it's still undoubtedly worth it. The closer "Waco, Texas," is even longer, but I wouldn't trade a single second of it. It's the emotional centerpiece of the record featuring the finale of Ethel and Willoughby's story. It ends in a way that clearly left permanent scars on Ethel's psyche and though she's initially indecisive on the volume of regret she conveys, as the song goes on it all just falls out. As all the meaning that's stuck with her for years as a result of the relationship comes flooding out it's such a climactically mad sequence and an utterly perfect way to end things off. 

Here's the part you'll hate me for. The four songs between the record's strong start and its incredible finale are an absolute dirge. "Willoughby's Interlude" is another long instrumental, this time with a more ambient slant. It certainly manages to build dramatically, but honestly, listening to the entire thing this early on the record just feels stunningly unnecessary every time.  That's followed by "Dust Bowl" which is pretty informative to the album's overall concept. It sees Ethel reflecting on the early days of her relationship with Willoughby and her regrets for the ways addiction and jealousy got in the way of the initial momentum they had. It's the best of the bunch among the middle of the record, but still doesn't hold a candle to the record's best material. 

"A Knock At The Door" is particularly funny in the wake of Ethel's brief spat with Lana Del Rey. While every Ethel song is seeping with obvious Lana influence, this may be the very most obvious one yet. Regardless, it's a moment that desperately needs a little more to grab onto, especially across a meandering second half that doesn't introduce anything compelling. Though that is the weakest song on the album, it's not helped by "Radio Towers." It's somewhere between pure ambient and the instrumental interlude earlier on the record. While the distant chimes do a better job of grounding it and feel like they sort of represent radio frequencies, it's still part of a middling run on the album that never feels satisfying when it ends. 

Despite a very rough mid-section, Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You does manage to be an improvement in some ways over any of Ethel's work so far. She's always been a compelling lyricist and songwriter but this is the first time one of her album-length concepts has grabbed me enough to call it a central part of the appeal. More than anything, it's wildly impressive that she manages to end things off with a brilliant closer that's both expansive in its scope and rich in its details. Tremendous high points save this album from fully falling victim to the many times it feels more like a test of endurance than a cohesive artistic statement. 7/10

For more singer-songwriter, check out my review of Jenny Hval's Iris Silver Mist