American indie rock, Americana-folk, slow core artist Ethel Cain returns to Australia.
The dates are part of the 'American Teenager' and 'Crush' singer-songwriter's world tour promoting their sophomore album 'Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You'.
To land in Australia next February, Cain will headline concerts in Melbourne (x2), Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle.
Released on Friday, 'Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You' is the follow-up to Cain's 2022 debut record 'Preacher's Daughter'; recorded and produced across a year-long period in her studios in Daleville, AL, Coraopolis, PA and Tallahassee, FL.
Some of the songwriting links back to Ethel's earliest days writing of the project and its myth-making, and recounts the story of Ethel's first love, Willoughby Tucker, and their humid, laden romance.
"Somehow it's harder to believe that this one is finally out than it was with 'Preacher's Daughter'," admits Ethel. "What I initially mistook for hating this record was actually realising that this record still resonates a lot deeper with me than 'Preacher's Daughter' did by the time it came out.
"It still feels raw and too close to home. I realised I don't hate this record, I'm just still overwhelmed by how real it feels. This is the scariest record I think I've ever made.
"'Willoughby Tucker' is one long love song. 'Willoughby's Theme' is my favourite track on it beyond a shadow of a doubt. [Side album] 'Perverts' exists solely because Matthew Tomasi and I made that track first.
"I wanted to try and sonically capture the nauseating, dizzying fear and rush of falling in love and realising that no matter what happens inside it, you will be fundamentally changed by it in the end. That still rings true to me now.
"Thank you Matt, thank you Marlee, thank you everyone else who helped make this record possible even though I wanted to drown myself in the creek every day trying to finish it.
"Thank you drone and ambient music, Thank you songs without words. Thank you southern live oaks, thank you Spanish moss, thank you kudzu. Thank you Florida panhandle, thank you south Alabama. Thank you Willoughby Tucker. I won't fail you next time, I promise."
Tickets on sale from 11am (local time) on 18 August.
Ethel Cain 2026 Tour Dates
Mon 16 Feb - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)Tue 17 Feb - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
Sat 21 Feb - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Wed 25 Feb - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)
Sat 28 Feb - Fremantle Arts Centre
