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On Sunday night Ethel Cain transformed the Hordern Pavilion stage into a liminal chapel; the room felt suspended with anticipation, like an emotional landscape of vast and complex detail, peppered with themes of girlhood, faith and longing. Every attendee was ready to be transported by the mesmerising ritual before us. There was no ‘cool’ present, just tears, stillness, dancing together and in solitude – a shared understanding that within the darkness she maps, there is also communion. Hayden’s live presence was statuesque, like a siren with a quiet purpose, confidently guiding us through the journey. “Thoroughfare” arrived as a beacon of hope, a yearning for soft-focus Americana.

And as the lights slowly lifted, the spell didn’t quite break – it lingered in the air, clinging to us like incense long after the chapel doors had closed.

Photos by Olivia Repaci