VIDEO: EMA’s ‘Satellites’
EMA aka Erika M. Anderson, formerly of Gowns, had a quiet classic in her 2011 release Past Life Martyred Saints, a lo-fi yet reverberatingly weighty album concerned with thematics without being a concept album. Upcoming sophomore The Future’s Void is reportedly overtly conceptual, as her press release states, the record is an indictment of the digital age, a portentous look at where we’re heading to as society. Perhaps due to the bigger theme, first single ‘Satellites’ is anything but barren in its soundscape.
Opening with claps and followed by ominous drone, throbbing piano keys, and electronic distortions and feedback, EMA’s vocals accentuate into something like a deified science fiction choral. It’s a hulking track that’s intently powerful – no apologies to be made here – a speculative fiction work that belongs in real world tech fears, more Edward Snowden’s real world espionage than William Gibson’s cyberpunk. Can’t wait for the future.