Ethel Cain announces second album, ‘Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You’
Ethel Cain has announced the long-awaited follow-up record to her breakthrough 2022 debut, Preacher’s Daughter. While the artist released their new project, Perverts, earlier this year, the announcement of her forthcoming sophomore record, Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, sees her return to the narrative world of her debut.
Across her debut album, Hayden Silas Anhedönia embodied her artistic moniker, Ethel Cain, for a concept album tracing a tale of heartbreak, religious trauma and ultimately, death. It was Cain’s vivid storytelling that shot her from cult obsession to a critical and cultural darling upon the record’s release.
With so much narrative behind the album, including a whole cast of characters, it has been hotly anticipated since 2022 what Cain might do next or how she might follow the record up. The artist has previously spoken in interviews about the bigger story that surrounded Preacher’s Daughter and her interest in digging deeper into it.
Additionally, Cain has previously shared that she’s been working on a novel adaptation of the story and that for future albums, she intended to explore it more, telling Line Of Best Fit that she’s especially interested in the Grandmother in the story, promising, “I’m excited to eventually get to her, because that’s the horror story: that’s where things get the darkest and the series of events are revealed that lead to Ethel Cain, her granddaughter, dying in some basement.”
Earlier this year, Cain sidestepped her world briefly to release Perverts, a divisive ambient project that sat completely separate from Preacher’s Daughter.
However, Cain has now announced a return to that world with the announcement of her second album, titled Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You. Willoughby Tucker is the name of Ethel Cain’s first love and the man who breaks her heart, kick-starting the story of her debut.
Alongside the album announcement, Cain also shared news of a North American and European tour between August and November. During the tour, $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to organizations committed to serving the trans community.
Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You will arrive in August, with no exact release date revealed yet.
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