Review: EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints (2011) [Souterrain Transmissions] // Grade: B+
Erika M. Anderson (EMA) works in bold moves and big ideas. As the founding member of duo Gowns, Anderson is no stranger to noise. Her disjointed folk vocals settle into a melodic balance in her solo debut, highlighting her mastery of the home recording format and deft guitar talent. If Gowns were the storm, then Past Life Martyred Saints is the relative calm after the last thunder clap hits, the sky still gloomy above.
Past Life Martyred Saints is worth a listen for opener “Grey Ship” alone. Utilizing only voice and guitar, Anderson remains engaging for a lengthy 7-plus minutes. The track nods to her heritage, alluding to the dark, mournful journey of a Viking funeral ship across the ocean. “Grey Ship” exists in three distinct sections; Anderson transitions from an introduction of scratchy guitar and breathy folk song, to somber feedback buzz accompanied by sparse words, building to guitar bedlam then fading out and back to breathy vocals.
Appropriately, much of the album following is dialed back. The intensity of “Grey Ship” is balanced with zigzagging folk melodies. Anderson drags out impassioned emotion for “California”, her heavy words trudging on a thin layer of static crackle. She is careful not to take any of the tracks as far as “Grey Ship”, an illustration of the perfectionist meets free-spirit persona that makes her music so fascinating. Hollow, metallic guitar scratches are an astute match for the pained vocals of “Marked”. Over tin can clang, Anderson’s voice goes raspy.
Past Life Martyred Saints is an album of shape-shifting. Anderson treats her voice and guitar as one, morphing sounds in response to the lyrical content. She exhibits the soft to loud dynamic of Cat Power, the rambling folk storytelling tendencies of Ani DiFranco and the guitar work of Kurt Vile, but that’s just to drop some familiar names. Make no mistake, Erika M. Anderson is a complete original.
