Ethel Cain Delivers a Summer Anthem with “American Teenager”

It’s the second single from her debut album Preacher’s Daughter that’s out May 12.

Ethel Cain Delivers a Summer Anthem with “American Teenager”

It’s the second single from her debut album Preacher’s Daughter that’s out May 12.

Words: Margaret Farrell

Photo: Helen Kirbo

April 21, 2022

Ethel Cain will release her debut album Preacher's Daughter on May 12. We've already heard the sultry "Gibson Girl," where Cain unpacked femininity, sensuality, and the supposed morality of it all. Today she's returned with another single titled "American Teenager" that recalls classic arena rock with spiraling guitar cries and blood-pumping drums straight out of the '80s.

“Growing up I was surrounded by visions of Nascar, rock ’n’ roll, and being the one who would change everything,” Cain said of the song. “They make you think it’s all achievable and that if nothing else, you should at least die trying. What they don’t tell you is that you need your neighbor more than your country needs you. I wrote this song as an expression of my frustration with all the things the ‘American Teenager’ is supposed to be but never had any real chance of becoming.”

Listen to "American Teenager" below.