Ethel Cain drops new song “American Teenager” with visualizer

Last month, Ethel Cain announced she'll be releasing her debut album, Preacher's Daughter, on May 12 via her own newly founded label, Daughters of Cain. Along with the news of her forthcoming LP — which follows the string of three EPs she's self-released over the past few years — she dropped its lead single, "Gibson Girl." Earlier this month, the Florida-born, Alabama-based singer-songwriter put out its second offering, "Strangers," and today, she's shared "American Teenager," a third cut from the project.

The new song combines the anthemic elements of country rock with Cain's poppier impulses, her voice double-tracked and Auto-Tuned in ethereal harmony, adding an element of the uncanny to an otherwise triumphant jam. The effect works in favor of the track's message, which cuts through clichéd nostalgia for idyllic American summers by shining a light through the cracks in the American dream.

“Growing up I was surrounded by visions of Nascar, rock’n’roll, and being the one who would change everything,” Cain writes. “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.”

In the song's visualizer, she sits on a picnic table in the shade, sipping Budweiser tall cans and looking restless on a sunny afternoon. Watch the video and view the dates of her newly announced July tour below.

July 14 – Bloomington, IN – The Bishop
July 15 – Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Festival
July 18 – Detroit, MI – El Club
July 19 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe
July 20 – Montreal, QC – Le Ritz PDB
July 22 – Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
July 23 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brendas
July 24 – Washington, DC – Union Stage
July 27 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall
July 28 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
July 30 – Gainesville, FL – High Dive
July 31 – Tallahassee, FL – 926 Bar