"Strangers" | ||||
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Single by Ethel Cain | ||||
from the album Preacher's Daughter | ||||
Released | April 7, 2022 | |||
Length | 5:44 | |||
Label | Daughters of Cain | |||
Songwriter(s) | Hayden Silas Anhedönia | |||
Producer(s) | Ethel Cain | |||
Ethel Cain singles chronology | ||||
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Audio video | ||||
"Strangers" on YouTube |
"Strangers" is a song written, produced, and recorded by American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain for her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter (2022). The last track on the record, it was released as its second single via her own record label, Daughters of Cain, on April 7, 2022. Influenced by grunge, it received praise from music critics for its affecting lines and its hair rock guitar solo. On "Strangers", she follows the narrative of the concept album centered on fictional characters; Cain concludes Preacher's Daughter with a cannibalistic climax.
Ethel Cain began 2022 by announcing her debut studio album titled Preacher's Daughter , along with the release of the first single "Gibson Girl", on March 17. She also shared its track listing, in which "Strangers" appears as the last song. [1] She stated that it is the second song that she wrote for the record, "without the intention that it would become the ending". [2] About that topic, Cain continued:
Looking back, I can't imagine a more perfect resolution to this lineage. I think subconsciously, this song was always the end of the road. It's the realization that some things cannot be avoided, only accepted, and that just because it isn't a happy ending, doesn't mean it's a bad one. There is an ending in every beginning, and all things come back around in one strange way or another. You can't change your past, nor anyone else's, and the only real strength you have in this lifetime is your forgiveness. [2]
On April 7, 2022, Cain released "Strangers" as the second single from the project. [3] [4]
With a "cannibalistic climax", it contains "haunting pianos", grunge guitars and "muddy sounds". [5] The song was described as "unbearably sad" and "is built across some of the record's most affecting lines" ("When my mother sees me on the side / Of a milk carton in Winn-Dixie's dairy aisle / She'll cry and wait up for me"). [6] In the narrative of the album, in the song the character is a "freezer bride" in her killer's basement and being cannibalised as she sends out one final message of love to her mother. [7] The song ends with a "suprisingly [sic] fitting" hair rock guitar solo. [6]
Grunge is an alternative rock genre and subculture which emerged during the mid-1980s in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, addiction, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom.
Soul Asylum is an American rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.
"There by the Grace of God" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 14 October 2002 by record label Epic as a single from the band's greatest hits album Forever Delayed.
"Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" is a song performed by Journey, recorded for their album Frontiers and released as a single in January 1983. It peaked at number eight for six consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and spent four weeks at number one on the Top Tracks chart. The song is also well known for its use in the film Tron: Legacy and in season four of Stranger Things.
"Sex Type Thing" is the debut single of American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released from their debut studio album, Core, in March 1993. "Sex Type Thing" also appears on the greatest hits compilation album Thank You. The song spawned a music video which received moderate rotation on MTV. The single peaked at number 23 on the US Album Rock Tracks chart.
"Four Women" is a song written by jazz singer, composer, pianist and arranger Nina Simone, released on the 1966 album Wild Is the Wind. It tells the story of four African American women. Each of the four characters represents an African-American stereotype in society. Thulani Davis of The Village Voice called the song "an instantly accessible analysis of the damning legacy of slavery, that made iconographic the real women we knew and would become."
Taylor Cameron Upsahl, known mononymously as Upsahl, is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Lady Jesus, was released in 2021.
Hayden Silas Horner, known professionally as Ethel Cain, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model. Inspired by Christian music and Gregorian chant, with lyrics focused on nostalgic and Southern Gothic themes, her music has been associated with the ambient, indie rock, and folk genres. She has released multiple extended plays (EPs) on streaming platforms under various aliases, before officially starting her main project in mid-2019.
"Morning Elvis" is a song by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine and the closing track of their fifth studio album, Dance Fever, released on 13 May 2022 through Polydor Records. It was written by the band's leader, Florence Welch, along with Dave Bayley, and produced by them with Jack Antonoff. A live performance version of the song recorded in Denver, in collaboration with American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain, was released as a promotional single on 9 December 2022.
Preacher's Daughter is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and record producer Ethel Cain, released on May 12, 2022, via her own record label, Daughters of Cain. It is a concept album that creates a narrative inspired by the artist's personal life as the daughter of a deacon and centered on fictional characters. Sonically, it experiments with folk music, Americana, slowcore, and other genres. The album was preceded by the release of three singles between March and April 2022: "Gibson Girl", "Strangers", and "American Teenager".
Emails I Can't Send is the fifth studio album by American singer and songwriter Sabrina Carpenter, released on July 15, 2022, by Island Records. The album was released as Carpenter's first under a new label. It is primarily a pop album with elements of folk-pop, dance-pop and storytelling, while themed around drafted emails and messages Carpenter wrote but did not send.
"American Teenager" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain, released on April 21, 2022, as the third and final single from her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter (2022). She produced the song and wrote it with Steven Mark Colyer. A heartland rock and indie folk track with beaming guitars, it illuminates both nostalgia for teenage life in the South and disillusionment with the American Dream. A self-directed music video for the song was published on July 21, 2022, three months after its release.
Inbred is the third extended play by American singer-songwriter Hayden Silas Anhedönia under the stage name Ethel Cain. It was released on April 23, 2021, through her own Daughters of Cain record label.
The Freezer Bride Tour was the first concert tour by American singer-songwriter Hayden Silas Anhedönia under the stage name Ethel Cain, in support of her debut studio album Preacher's Daughter (2022). The tour began on July 14, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana, and concluded in London, England, on December 7.
The Blood Stained Blonde Tour was the second concert tour by American singer-songwriter and producer Hayden Silas Anhedönia, under the stage name of Ethel Cain. Like the previous one, it served to promote the artist's debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter (2022), a critically acclaimed concept album. The 46-show tour began on April 1, 2023 in Mexico City and concluded on October 24, 2023 in San Francisco.
"Gibson Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain. Composed and produced by Cain, it was released on March 17, 2022, as the lead single from her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter (2022). A sexy and suspenseful song, it explores "fresh aspects of femme energy".
"Crush" is a song recorded, written and produced by American singer Ethel Cain. It was released on March 18, 2021, as the second single from her third extended play (EP) titled Inbred, which was released the following month.
"Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)" is a song by American project 1017 ALYX 9SM and American singer-songwriter Ethel Cain. The debut single of the project by Givenchy creative director Matthew Williams, it was released on July 21, 2023, as the lead single from the collaboration album Compilation Vol. 1. The song was entirely written and produced by Cain, and marks the singer's first official release since her critically acclaimed concept album Preacher's Daughter (2022). A self-directed music video was released alongside the song.