EMA - The Future's Void

EMA
The Future’s Void
7 April 2014
Matador

4 stars out of 5

 

Erika M. Anderson’s third LP, The Future’s Void, is both a cold and dark industrial chiller and a warm and fuzzy embrace, sometimes even within the same song. Ranging from the minimalist ambiance of “100 Years” to the harsh darkness of “Smoulder,” Anderson’s stylistic breadth is as impressive as her incredible focus and lyrical sharpness. The lyrics deal primarily with the present state of world political affairs, and while this might seem like an eye-roller of a topic for an album, Anderson’s skills make it work.

“Satellites” is a dark pop-industrial juggernaut of an opener. I had to check my calendar for a moment to make sure the present year was 2014 and not 1994. But! Fear not, gentle reader, for rather than being a weak rip-off of a long-stale genre, EMA’s song breathes and bleeds with new vitality. “3Jane” is a gentle and sad skewering of what was once a glorious country called “America.” The thoroughly gothy gothness of “Cthulu” will probably make it a staple at equally gothy clubs for many gothy years to come. “Neuromancer” is a tribal drumfest à la Dead Can Dance gone evil—followed by the sedate acoustic ballad “When She Comes,” it seems fairly certain that Anderson is a mad scientist of a songwriter, equally comfortable in both raging demon and comforting teddy bear modes.

While most of the album is based on keys and programming, acoustic guitar tracks like “So Blonde” and “When She Comes” prove that Anderson has the ability to write “traditional rock songs” in addition to the results she comes up with when given a studio full of toys. Interestingly enough, Anderson’s former band Amps for Christ is set to release a new LP next week, and I’m willing to bet the two have diverged so much in the last decade that any comparisons will be close to impossible.

reviewed by Richard Krueger