EMA is Erika M. Anderson, formerly half of L.A. electronic folk group Gowns, which broke up after releasing one album in 2007. Like Wavves on a bad trip, "California" is full of softly shrieking feedback and memories of violence enacted and imagined. Most songs about places -- California especially -- detach one's personal experiences from the location, instead focusing on, Hey, they have beaches and skateboarders here and the girls are pretty. But growing up sucks, as anyone who's ever been a teenager knows, and growing up in California is no different.
Anderson's originally from South Dakota, and the Leif Shackelford-directed video projects clips of her native state and those of Oakland onto her body as she sings and gestures painfully. It's mesmerizing.
EMA's debut, Past Life Martyred Saints is out May 10 on Souterrain Transmissions.
[P4k]
