A prequel to her Top Ten-charting full-length debut, the dramatic, semi-autobiographical concept album
Preacher's Daughter
,
Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You
visits the protagonist (also named
Ethel Cain
) five years earlier, as a teenager. While
Willoughby
's lush, ambient rock atmospheres and poignant scenes are similarly cinematic to the debut, this album leans further into a more yearning, romantic sensibility apropos to themes of young love and the longing for a life outside of her troubled home. While it's highlighted by evocative tracks like "Fuck Me Eyes" and its mix of smooth synths and dissonant fuzz, and the more intimate "Dust Bowl" ("I knew it was love/When I rode home crying"), like any concept album worth its salt,
is best heard in its (73-minute) entirety. The follow-up enjoyed a similarly positive international reception, including landing within the U.S., U.K., and Australian Top 15 and reaching the Top Three of Billboard's independent, alternative, and rock charts. ~ Marcy Donelson