EMA (aka Erika M. Anderson) recently revealed that she’d be releasing a new album this year, and that it would be coming out on City Slang worldwide (who previously released her music in Europe) instead of former label Matador because it was “too political” (and there was some controversy about that). She also revealed at the time that the album was produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra bassist Jake Portrait.
Now, EMA’s followup to 2014’s great The Future’s Void has been announced. It’s called Exile In The Outer Ring, and it comes out on August 25. The first single is “Aryan Nation,” which is plenty of proof that Erika hasn’t lost her touch one bit. She said the album would be more similar to Past Life Martyred Saints and her previous band Gowns, but there is some of The Future’s Void‘s grander sound on this song too. It’s quite obviously political, and she’s crafted one hell of a musical backdrop to soundtrack her message. Here’s what Erika said about the song:
I actually wrote this song about three years ago. It was partially inspired by people I’ve known in the past and also the British film This Is England, which most people in the UK are familiar with but hardly any Americans have seen. In the movie a group of non-racist UK skinheads in the ’80s are radicalized into violence through prison, poverty, and needless war. The results are violent and tragic. When I watched it I felt like I recognized a glimmer of their hopelessness and confusion in parts of America, but I had no clue how much that would explode in 2017.
This is for my people in the middle country. I don’t look down on, or laugh at, serious issues such as poverty or drug problems. I believe your situations are real, your pain is real. I’m not here to ridicule or dismiss you. But as a person who came from heartland america, I also believe that there is another way than directing your anger at those who often have less power than you. Don’t let your discontent or your patriotism be exploited. Don’t look down, look up.
Watch the lyric video, and check out the album artwork and tracklist:
Tracklist
7 Years
Breathalyzer
I Wanna Destroy
Blood and Chalk
Down and Out
Fire Water Air LSD
Aryan Nation
33 Nihilistic and Female
Receive Love
Always Bleeds
Where The Darkness Began