Ethel Cain says public reaction to her makes her feel like “a dancing monkey in a circus”

nme.com:

Ethel Cain has spoken out about her experience of gaining more fans and online attention since the release of her debut album last year.The alt-pop singer – who released her first album ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ in May last year – said that she began to feel like “a dancing monkey in a circus” as more memes and jokes about her public image began to circulate online.“It’s very like, ‘Oh, she’s so funny on Twitter, she’s so relatable’ and then it becomes this big weird joke cycle,” she told The Guardian in a new interview.In the past the singer participated in jokes and online exchanges around her southern, gothic persona, along with discussions about her featuring in campaigns for the likes of Givenchy, Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs.She went on: “Don’t get me wrong, laughter and memes and jokes are always really fun.

But when you want to post something to be consumed seriously, people are still joking – and then you get like, thousands of comments that are like, ‘silly goose’.

All of a sudden, you start to feel like you can’t turn off the memeable internet personality thing.”The singer, whose real name is Hayden Anhedönia, also explained that sometimes fans will break the silence of her quietest songs during live performances.“I had a show recently where I was singing the really quiet intro to Sun Bleached Flies,” she said. “I went to hold [a fan’s] hand and they began sort of screaming, ‘I didn’t even know who you were two weeks ago, I found you through a meme on TikTok.’ It’s almost like heckling.

I don’t think any of them are mean spirited, but it’s a little jarring.”Anhedönia also explained why she decided to delete her Twitter recently. “I always kind of conflated openness with honesty and I thought that if I was completely.