Hayden Silas Anhedönia (born March 24, 1998), known professionally as Ethel Cain,[a] is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model.

She is noted for her lyrics focused on nostalgic and Southern Gothic themes, while her music has been associated with the ambient, indie rock, and contemporary folk genres.

[4] Anhedönia officially started making music in 2017, experimenting with "dreamy bedroom pop demos".

[5] Her first extended play under the Ethel Cain moniker, Carpet Bed, consisted of four songs and was released on September 13, 2019.

[4] After the latter's release, she was backed by the artist Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, who praised her for her "mature songwriting and understanding of melody".

[8] In February 2021, Anhedönia released her first single as Ethel Cain and under the new publishing contract, "Michelle Pfeiffer", which featured Lil Aaron.

The ambient-folk and slowcore EP[12] was named by Pitchfork as one of The 49 Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2021[13] and received a score of 7.6 out of 10 by the website.

[15] On March 8, 2022, she released a cover of the song "Everytime" by Britney Spears as part of Spotify Singles, in observance of International Women's Day.

[34] After sharing the song on SoundCloud a year before, in 2023 she released "Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)", inspired by Luca Guadagnino's film Bones and All, along with 1017 ALYX 9SM.

[38] On February 14, 2024, she released a song titled "من النهر” (meaning "From the River"), which she described as a "prayer" for Palestinians.

[46] Cain's musical style has been classified as indie rock,[13] gothic,[47] contemporary folk,[48] alternative pop,[49] slowcore, Americana, and ambient.

[55] According to BroadwayWorld, Cain musically combines "elements of rock, country and cinematic nostalgia" paired with "ethereal vocals and raw lyrics to create her unique sound".

[2][57] Cain came out as gay to her family at the age of 12, and on her 20th birthday, she publicly came out as a trans woman: "As I got older, I found out there were other options", she said.

[59]Reflecting on her religious upbringing in a 2021 interview, Cain said that she still considered herself a Southern Baptist: "Whether I like it or not, God always has and always will be a huge part of my life.

'"[61] In an interview for Rolling Stone in August 2023, she revealed that all of her family have since left the church, though she clarified they are still religious in some ways.

[63] The lyrics of Cain's song "American Teenager" express criticisms of US gun culture, anti-war sentiment, and political and religious disillusionment.

It was included by former President of the United States Barack Obama in his list of favorite songs of 2022, which prompted surprise from Cain that a former president had included her "anti-war, anti-patriotism fake pop song" in his end-of-year list.

[65] In May 2024, she seemingly called for the assassination of United States President Joe Biden; she had added a post discussing Biden's approval of a billion-dollar arms sale to Israel on her Instagram story, with the caption "we need to bring back assassinations".

"[66][67] In November 2024, following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election, Cain responded saying: "Everybody is so incredibly hateful.