EMA is Erika M. Anderson, front woman for the recently disbanded Gowns. That 2010 breakup startled indie fans nation-wide, who were impressed with Gowns’ well-received 2007 debut LP Red State. The split was eventually justified when Anderson admitted to a rough breakup with her boyfriend and Gowns band mate Ezra Buchla. Past-Life Martyred Saints is EMA’s first solo album.
In her new record, Anderson picks up where she left of in 2007 with Gowns. The album consists of more songs about broken-hearted apathy and self-deprecation. Her gaspy vocal style sounds like Courtney Love, yet the music on Past-Life is more raw and stripped down than any of Love’s material. Structurally, the album is reminiscent of Cat Power’s Metal Heart. and relies on many short guitar loops layered on top of one another. The persistent looping creates a lost, ambient effect. Anderson’s restless, reverb-drenched vocals often begin out-of-synch with her instrumentals, only to evolve into a rousing chorus. The songs create the image of a lost 22 year old drifting in and out of sobriety, a topic visited frequently throughout the record.
Lyrically, Past-Life is Anderson’s best work to date. The same themes of loneliness, intoxication, and abuse prevalent in Anderson’s earlier work are presented in a much more subtle fashion here. In Anteroom, Anderson sings of loneliness, muttering “no one left to see and no one left to hold” before reverting to a chorus of “take it once and I’ll be fine, you know me I’ll be fine” -- substances as a lubricant for her tortured heart. In the album’s most chilling recording Marked, Anderson reflects on her compulsion for physical abuse as she gasps repeatedly, “I wish every time he touched me left a mark.”In California, the album’s second track Anderson a South Dakota native, reveals her frustration with life in her new home: “fuck California, you made me boring” is her most audible sequence throughout the entire album. But Past-Life’s highlight is Milkman, a three minute distorted lovers’ anthem situated with a heavy bassline accompanied by the frequent crashing of electronic percussion. The track displays Anderson at her most robust and powerful, and provides a fascinating contrast to her meek approach displayed on other tracks.
Past-Life Martyred Saint’s delivers a more mature Anderson than we saw with Gowns. Gowns’ only release touched on folk roots while experimenting with everything from mandolins to walkie-talkies. In Past-Life Martyred Saint’s, we see a much more stripped down and intimate approach from Anderson. Her lyrics here are subtler than they were with Gowns, and that subtlety serves her well. Ultimately, Martyred Saint’s is an emphatic success, but it is not a recording that should be taken as a collection of songs-- rather, it reflects a unified window into the soul of Erika M. Anderson.
