The music video for 'American Teenager' blends upbeat pop with dark themes, notably featuring children watching the Twin Towers falling. The song critiques U.S. military narratives, highlighted by lyrics that reflect on loss in the pursuit of the American dream. Hayden Anhedönia, the artist, has little interest in celebrity status despite growing attention. During the pandemic, she became associated with the cottagecore aesthetic and contrasts nostalgia with her complex relationship to her evangelical upbringing. Her debut album, 'Preacher's Daughter,' narrates a dark tale of abduction and loss.
"The neighbor's brother came home in a box / But he wanted to go, so maybe it was his fault," Anhedönia sings. "Another red heart taken by the American dream."
Anhedönia's promotional art featured tattered American flags, wood panelling, white lace, and church spires; her Southern-gothic alter ego, Ethel Cain, became the movement's unlikely face.
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