'Nettles' by Ethel Cain

Nettles, is an 8 minute, banjo heavy, twin peaks synthy, hauntingly beautiful written song is an absolute joy to listen to and experience. After releasing her EP, Perverts^[1] , earlier this year, it is welcoming to hear her come back into her more well-known southern Gothic style.

I've never been into folk_esque music like this, so on the first listen I was apprehensive. I kept listening to it, on repeat as one does, and kept finding more things about it that captivated me, even left me wanting more time with the track.

That's probably off-putting to some as 8 minutes, conventionally, is considered a long song. I often gravitate to longer records/projects/track, and upon writing this sentence realize I always have.

Often, my favorite songs have always been longer than radio-friendly allows.^[2] - Truly I wish more artists released longer tracks, it can introduce elements within a song that cannot be emulated as satisfyingly without the benefit of more time. I'm thinking tension, release, tempo changes, rests, crescendos, bridges, etc

What captivates me most about this song the most, is the ^performer_creator - Ethel Cain, in how she, seemingly, has the ability to not only challenge the general music standards, but navigate those choppy, change-adverse waters with relative ease.

8 minutes doesn't feel long enough with this captivatingly beautiful song, nor with it's creator, & I find myself excited for this upcoming project by this genre-defying artist who has challenged me to be a better audience^/fan of music, to challange myself on my listening habits.

This was edited on 2025-06-12 to add these thoughts, before was a blank TBD page