“It’s easier to bleed than sweat, Mr. Motes.” ~ Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood
The fringes can be frightening places. Ethel Cain, whose birth name is Hayden Anhedönia, that last part’s definition reads “a diverse array of deficits in hedonic function, including reduced motivation or ability to experience pleasure,” explores Southern heat, religion, blood, sex, sweat and pain on Perverts that unfolds, at times painfully slow, over 90 minutes of scorching hot haunted beauty.