I have this habit of walking backwards through an artist's career, latching on to a later record, deeming it "the definitive," when in reality, it's often the result of years of stylistic experimentation, especially when the debut was recorded while the artist was still so young. Lycanthropy's precociousness is overshadowed by its standout songs, period. (Full disclosure: I'm a full decade older than Wolf, making it impossible for me to see hims as something other than a "young" artist, particularly when listening to this album, which was recorded when he was barely out of his teens.)
"The Childcatcher" is one of those songs that makes you stop and catch your breath when its over. I don't want to label someone else's experience, but the lyrics are terrifying. In his words:
It was a certain relationship, I was 15 at the time but I was still a child. It wasn’t like I was 6-years-old, I was 15. I was still mentally a child and the person knew I was still mentally a child. It’s hard to communicate at the time because it’s like a complicated thing, but maybe put it into the context of a child being eight-years-old or seven-years-old; it was an easy way of communicating what was actually happening. But then there’s also the other side that five years later, like 19 I wrote the second part where it comes in with the voice of the person who did the abuse, and it turns out ‘Oh come on, you know, it wasn’t so much an abuse, maybe you just weren’t ready for it. Maybe you enjoyed it? (source )"
*How I'd describe it.
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