By Afroditi A. Karagianni,
With exam season slowly approaching us, I have found myself spending hours and hours studying on my laptop while listening to loads of music. The good news is that this whole situation has enabled me to either re-listen some beloved music albums of mine or even discover some more to add to my collection of favorites. Nonetheless, I will be discussing all of them below, while focusing on their vibe, inspirations and overall messages.
- Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter (2022)
Before coming across Preacher’s Daughter, I hadn’t previously heard of Ethel Cain and her (extraordinary) work. Fortunately, I randomly came across its track called Strangers, and the rest was history. Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter is an album filled with elements of Americana, dark ambient, slowcore, and Southern Gothic in its sound, which help it create its aerie, creepy, melodic and haunting atmosphere. It is mainly focused on themes like family trauma, sexual violence, and religious extremism, and draws inspiration from Cain’s own experiences growing up in a strict Southern Baptist environment. Its story revolves around a fictional character, also named Ethel Cain, who escapes her abusive preacher father and the confines of her Christian community. Personally, I consider it a highly creative, imaginative and expressive piece and I adored Cain’s ethereal, dynamic and emotion-filled vocals.
- FVS’s Oneira Se Spiti Magissas (2024)
Perhaps one of my favorite rap-hip-hop albums ever, the Greek album Oneira Se Spiti Magissas has been in my top listened albums for months now. Alongside its dynamic rap and hip-hop beats, it also contains multiple melodies and a variety of alternate musical instruments’ sounds that help create its songs’ distinct character. Overall, the album, inspired heavily by H. P. Lovecraft’s works, is a piece filled with horror and fantasy related themes which find themselves incorporated in its lyrics. This ultimately creates a dreamlike, creepy and earie atmosphere that manages to intrigue and capture the interest of its listeners. In addition, like the majority of FVS’s works, this album touches on themes like the stars, the solar system, nature, isolation, love, loss and human nature, which have an integral part to play in the maintenance of the creative character the group has been known to have. Honestly, it is a very unique and innovative album, and I loved the unparalleled storytelling that takes place in its tracks.
- TV Girl’s Who Really Cares (2016)
In truth, I have been listening to TV girl for a while now. Despite that, it took me an absurd amount of time to listen to Who Really Cares In its entirety, but I am glad I finally did. Specifically, Who Really Cares primarily contains lo-fi, indie pop and synth-driven melodies, which form a dreamy and melancholic atmosphere. As far as its lyrics are concerned, the album’s tracks delve into themes of love, desire, and the complexities of modern—romantic or not—relationships. Often, they explore themes like intimacy and its absence, as well as their emotional or psychological impact on the person who experiences them. Furthermore, unrequited love and emotional voids are referenced in various tracks, aiding the formation of the melancholic and yearning vibe it possesses. Often witty, sarcastic, detached and humorous, its lyrics significantly elevate it and manage to present its themes more thoroughly. Who Really Cares is to me one of the finest works of TV Girl, and I generally consider it an amazing, highly creative and inspired piece.
To sum up, I consider all three of these albums utterly special works, which are absolutely worth listening to, just to be able to experience their uniqueness first-hand—and who knows, they might even manage to make our exam season somewhat more enjoyable!
