EMA – Outtakes From Exile

EMA
Outtakes From Exile
City Slang
★★★★

If you thought Erika M. Anderson’s Exile From The Outer Ring was a deep expanse, wait until you hear Outtakes From Exile. Not just formulated as a companion piece, although the EP is built to be that, there are some very rich tunes on here that deserve the attention.

What sounds like a dark dystopian future, the album(s) serve as a reaction stemmed from political alienation, which seem to be the cause for dystopian novel plots to exist. That or environmental ruin. Unfortunately, EMA brings that feeling closer to our reality.

Equal care has been given to these song. One of the highlights is “MopTops (Twist While The World Stops).” According to Anderson, the song was built to be a slow daze. But co-writer Severiano Martinez chopped it up and made it faster. The result is a hypnotic tension that fluxuates between a world on fire and the internal burning of desire. The electronic rhythmic pulses layered into minimalist bass works like Morse Code.

EMA – MopTops (Twist While the World Stops)

With “Anything Good” following, that code is more like a cry for help that becomes evident as Anderson decrees, “Save me! Save Me Save Me! Save me!” The song does take a slower, dark gray tone that does not make for easy listening. But the song serves as cinematic desperation and serves its purpose to remind us, Ema’s intent is not to entertain us, but to challenge our psyche in a world that is volatile, even years after she wrote these songs.

From “Dark Shadows” gothic aural architecture and dreamlike hauntings to the depressed significance of “From The Love That We Made” Outtakes feel like there is no easy way out. And years after writing this album, it may serve a greater importance today not just as an outlet but as a reaction. This EP is merely the scenery.