EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

Erika M. Anderson's solo debut as EMA continues to explore similar territory to her previous outfits Amps for Christ and Gowns: the epic, burned-out hinterlands where rock meets noise, evocative of the vast, empty landscapes of Anderson's native South Dakota. The songs here defy easy categorisation, lurching unexpectedly from Charalambides-style spectral folk into bass-driven, ritualistic rock (The Grey Ship); or melting into frazzled soundscapes of feedback and e-bowed guitar (California).

That sonic diversity, and Anderson's versatility as a guitarist, are at the core of the record's power. Most of all, it's the juxtapositions that make it work: as on Milkman's oscillation between breathy, Kim-Gordon style stripped-down vocals and washes of dense noise. Through this kind of instinctive, genre-defying structuring, EMA manages to channel the primal intensity of the blues into a contemporary form, making Past Life Martyred Saints a remarkably accomplished record. [Sam Wiseman]