Earlier this month, Hayden Anhedönia released her recent album under the Ethel Cain moniker, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. This album presented the prequel to the Ethel lore, which includes the previous album Preacher’s Daughter. In January, she released Perverts, which was infinitely colder, more isolating, and completely separate from the Ethel Cain trilogy. There, she experimented with droning, field recordings, and spoken word elements. In the spirit of Ethel Cain—exploring both Preacher’s Daughter and Perverts vibes—here are four artists who have curated similar styles and themes in their work, or have been an adjacent influence on Anhedönia.

Nicole Dollanganger

Nicole Dollanganger began making music around 2010, focusing on DIY lo-fi made in her bedroom and bathroom with GarageBand. Hayden Anhedönia’s work as Ethel Cain falls into this self-produced bedroom pop realm as well, specifically with the minimalist yet atmospheric instrumentals and breathy, barely there vocals. While Cain’s vocals are a little more solid than Dollanganger’s, there’s still an element of warbling lightness that comes through. Thematically, they both have often written about romance and longing, crime and violence, and sexuality.

Grouper

Grouper is the stage name of musician Liz Harris, who released her first self-produced album in 2005. Stylistically, she deals in ambient sounds, field recordings, and vocal loops, creating a dreamy sense of never-ending sound. Previously, Anhedönia has shared that she’s a Grouper fan, and sharp-eyed fans even noticed a vinyl copy of A I A: Alien Observer in the background of one of her YouTube videos. Grouper’s work tends to stray a little lighter than Anhedönia’s, using more acoustic guitar and piano. But it’s still great for a palate cleanser after droning through the exquisite darkness of Perverts.

Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe incorporates more elements of heavy metal and neofolk into her work, focusing less on lo-fi and electronic sound in comparison to Anhedönia’s Ethel Cain albums. However, the heavy gothic droning in songs like “16 Psyche” calls to mind Perverts but in a different flavor. Wolfe’s vocals are adamant and persistent while also leaning etherial in important moments, but overall her sound is hard to consistently pin down. She’s done that on purpose, though, taking elements from drone metal, goth rock, dark ambient, folk, and noise to create something that skirts the edges of doom folk.

Cult friends

There’s not much information about Cult Friends, except that some people in the Ethel Cain Reddit have snooped out that they might be friends with Anhedönia, or at least acquaintances. They’ve put out several EPs, the most recent being Vaticide in March 2025. There’s a soft eeriness that pervades Cult Friends’ work, a susurration in the sparse vocals that hisses and hushes along the slow undulations of the instrumentals. There’s a drone to it, but it’s not overpowering. Just monotonous enough to create a comforting lull, seamlessly spreading from one track to the next.

Photo by Gus Stewart/Redferns