- To see alternate articles, check out Golden Age (song).
Golden Age is the second extended play (EP) by Hayden Anhedönia, under her current stage name Ethel Cain. It was released on December 1, 2019, on streaming platforms, under the Canadian label, Homie Shit Magazine.
Unlike her debut EP Carpet Bed, which saw little promotion, this project marked her first under Ethel Cain with a proper rollout. It also received a physical release featuring three bonus tracks.
Background[]
In the summer of 2019, Anhedönia began recording her second EP under the Ethel Cain moniker, aiming to capture the essence of the Florida heat and her own experiences with a first real love that she faced in 2019 that ended up leaving her wounded in the process by not knowing how to deal with it properly. She divided the EP into two parts: sonic and emotional. Anhedönia stated that the EP was inspired by music she was listening to at the time: Michelle Tumes, Nichole Nordeman, Jaci Velasquez, Nicole Dollanganger, Velvetears, and Title Fight, describing the former three as "soft, cooing female vocals" and the latter as "dreampop/alt rock" which she had blended together while recording.[1]
Development[]
"golden age is almost upon us"
On August 30, 2019, while opening for her friend Nicole Dollanganger in Chicago, Anhedönia debuted several then-unreleased tracks; among them was "Sunday Morning" and "Golden Age," the latter of which she confirmed onstage as the title track of her upcoming EP.[2] On September 16, 2019, Anhedönia released a demo of "Head in the Wall" to SoundCloud. Nearly a month later, on October 27, she teased the forthcoming EP with a tweet reading, "golden age is almost upon us."
During the recording process, Anhedönia ran into technical issues with her laptop and considered raising funds by releasing a remastered version of her EP Colossus (The Arcane Edition). It's unclear whether that ever happened, but the setback likely caused delays. To tide fans over, she released a stripped-down piano version of the title track, which was later taken down. On November 7, 2019, Anhedönia confirmed that the EP had just been mixed by frequent collaborator Frank Manely.[3]
Remastered version[]
In 2020, Anhedönia allegedly shared plans to remaster her first two EPs under Ethel Cain, Carpet Bed and Golden Age. However, the idea was never finalized, and it's unclear how far the remasters for Golden Age went. On October 24, 2022, she confirmed that the remasters had been scrapped, explaining she had "much new stuff to work on" at the time—namely her debut album Preacher's Daughter.
Release and Promotion[]
On November 26, 2019, Canadian label Homie Shit Magazine confirmed that they would be distributing Anhedönia's EP Golden Age on December 1, 2019.[4] On November 30, 2019, Anhedönia tweeted "Tonight", teasing the EP's release.[5] On the release date, Anhedönia made a official announcement for the EP. A music video for "Knuckle Velvet" was released the same day. An article about Golden Age was written by Haz Ali for Underground Underdogs, a publication that covers emerging and underground artists.[6] Anhedönia was later interviewed by the publication in early 2020.
Golden Age was also physically released as limited editions of both CD[7] and cassette[8] under the Canadian label Homie Shit Magazine on December 1, 2019. Anhedönia announced the physical edition on her now-deleted Twitter account. A preorder link was put in her bio description, and Homie Shit Magazine announced that the pre-orders were going live of bandcamp.[9][10][11] The physical edition contained alternative artwork as well as three bonus tracks: "Selby Wall," "Child of Cain," and the demo of "Sunday Morning."
Release Party: Heaven's Gate[]
On November 30, 2019, Anhedönia held a release party to celebrate the release of Golden Age with her fanbase, as the second part of her and E_DEATH's "Heaven's Gate" events. The event was announced in that same month, and guests were invited to arrive at 10:00 PM, to settle in. At exactly 11:00 PM, the songs from the EP were played in full.[12] Posters had also been make for the event, utilizing lyrics from "Casings."
Images[]
.jpg "GA (Release Party1).jpg (256 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party2).jpg (196 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party3).jpg (172 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party4).jpg (136 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party5).jpg (129 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party6).jpg (116 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Release Party7).jpg (120 KB)")
Artwork[]
.jpg "Golden Age (Font1).jpg (845 KB)")
.jpg "Golden Age (Font2).jpg (726 KB)")
The font for the Golden Age artwork was done by Anhedönia herself—hand drawn on paper then traced digitally. A few covers for the EP were created, shared on Anhedönia's Tumblr. Two photoshoots for the EP were conducted, for the standard cover and the physical cover. The physical cover was taken on a phone—a video being recorded.
.jpg "GA (Unedited).jpg (999 KB)")
.jpg "Golden Age (1).jpg (213 KB)")
_Unedited.jpg "GA (1) Unedited.jpg (515 KB)")
.jpg "Golden Age (2).jpg (320 KB)")
_Unedited.jpg "GA (2) Unedited.jpg (1.37 MB)")
Shoot #1 (2019)[]
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot4).jpg (100 KB)")
.jpeg){kind=link}
Shoot #2 (2019)[]
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot).jpg (108 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot1).jpg (118 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot2).jpg (94 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot3).jpg (109 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot5).jpg (133 KB)")
.jpg "GA (Photoshoot6).jpg (93 KB)")
Anhedönia wears "Natural Born Losers" beanie by Nicole Dollanganger.
Tracklist[]
| Golden Age — Standard Edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 1. | Sunday Morning | Hayden Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 4:39 |
| 2. | Casings | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 4:36 |
| 3. | Lilies (ft. Mercy Necromancy) | Anhedönia, Mercy Necromancy | Anhedönia | 5:04 |
| 4. | Head in the Wall | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 6:41 |
| 5. | Knuckle Velvet (ft. YAH WAV) | Anhedönia | Anhedönia, Frank Manley | 3:22 |
| 6. | Golden Age | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 6:04 |
| Total length: | 30:27 | |||
| Golden Age — Physical Edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 7. | Selby Wall | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 7:18 |
| 8. | Child of Cain | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 4:46 |
| 9. | Sunday Morning (Demo) | Anhedönia | Anhedönia | 4:16 |
| Total length: | 46:47 | |||
Outtakes[]
- Powerline Valley Available — Confirmed to be an outtake from the Golden Age sessions. Released on Unreleased compilation.
- Skinheads Available — Shared to Twitter, but was later deleted. Resurfaced in low quality in 2025.
- Verona Available — Replaced by "Casings." Released on Unreleased compilation.
Sessions[]
During the sessions of Golden Age, these songs were produced and recorded, but it is unclear whether they were intended to be included on the EP.
- ??? Unavailable — Confirmed by Anhedönia in September of 2019 that she and Salem Anhedönia were making a collaboration, although it seems to have not been released.
Personnel[]
Credits[]
- Hayden Anhedönia — songwriting (all tracks), production (all tracks), vocals (all tracks), engineering (all tracks)
- Mercy Necromancy — songwriting (track 3), vocals (track 3)
- Frank Manley — production (track 5), mixing (all tracks), mastering (all tracks)
Publishing[]
- Homie Shit Magazine — publisher, physical releases
Trivia[]
- Singer-songwriter Wicca Phase Springs Eternal listed Golden Age in his top ten LPs of the year for Brooklyn Vegan, praising Anhedönia's "mature songwriting and understanding of melody."[13]
- Anhedönia would later collaborate with Springs Eternal on the track "God's Country," taken from her third EP Inbred.
References[]
- ↑ Underground Underdog Staff, "The Gospel According To Ethel Cain," Underground Underdogs, March 30, 2020.
- ↑ "Ethel Cain Beat Kitchen Chicago Full Show 8/30/19 Nicole Dollanganger Heart Shaped Bed Tour", Juliet Horner, August 31, 2019, video, 5:04.
- ↑ 𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔦𝔫 (@hisethelcain), "listening to the new mix @yahwav just did of this song on golden age and i think i’ve discovered a new part of my inner ear" Twitter, November 7, 2019.
- ↑ @homieshitmag, "We’re so excited to announce that we’ll be releasing Florida based artist, @hisethelcain ‘s new EP “Golden Age”. Streaming and pre-orders available 12/01/19. Some international homie shit :)" Instagram post, November 26, 2019.
- ↑ 𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔦𝔫 (@hisethelcain), "Tonight" Twitter, November 30, 2019.
- ↑ Haz Ali, "Experience The Dawn of Ethel Cain’s “Golden Age”," Underground Underdogs, December 9, 2019.
- ↑ Discogs, Golden Age.
- ↑ Discogs, Golden Age.
- ↑ @homieshitmag, "HSR-003 Ethel Cain - Golden Age [...]" Instagram post, December 1, 2019.
- ↑ 𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔦𝔫 (@hisethelcain), "the golden age has begun. my new EP is out worldwide on all streaming platforms, and you can grab a limited copy on cassette or CD using the link in my bio. thank you all for your words, love, excitement, and patience. i’ve found a way, and i’m finally coming along. ♡ - ethel" Twitter, November 30, 2020.
- ↑ 𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔦𝔫 (@hisethelcain), "the physicals are now available for pre-order using the link in my bio!! so much thanks to homie shit magazine for producing this limited run of golden age cassettes and CDs!!" Twitter, November 30, 2020.
- ↑ 𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔩 𝔠𝔞𝔦𝔫 (@hisethelcain), "yeah i told everyone to get here at 10 so no one is late or misses out when we start playing the music at 11 :3" Twitter, November 30, 2019.
- ↑ Andrew Sacher, "Wicca Phase tells us his top 10 LPs of 2019; tour w/ Glitterer, Creeks, Anxious begins," Brooklyn Vegan, December 5, 2019.
| EP | |
|---|---|
| Standard Tracklist | Sunday Morning • Casings • Lilies • Head in the Wall • Knuckle Velvet • Golden Age |
| Physical Tracklist | Selby Wall • Child of Cain • Sunday Morning (Demo) |
| Non-EP | |
| Outtakes | Powerline Valley • Skinheads • Verona |
| Related Releases | Black and Blue • A Portrait of My Love on Her Knees • One Winged Angel |
| Ethel Cain Discography | |
| Carpet Bed • Golden Age • Inbred • Preacher's Daughter • Perverts • Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You • Preacher's Wife (Upcoming) • Mother of a Preacher (Upcoming) • Unreleased Projects | |