aaamusic | On 28, Mar 2011

Having introduced herself as a solo artist with the epically rocking seven minute single ‘Grey Ship’ backed with a slowly rambunctious and flailingsixteen minute cover of the Robert Johnson blues staple, ‘Kind Heart’,EMA invites you deeper into her world with her debut album, Past Life Martyred Saints due on 9 May 2011 through Souterrain Transmissions.

She has now unveiled her new DIY video for album track ‘California’ as well as a string of UK live shows. See the video for California here:

And see EMA live at these dates:

11 May London The Macbeth
12 May London Cargo (supporting Scout Niblett)
13 May Manchester FutureEverything @ Islington Mill (supporting Scout Niblett)
14 May Brighton The Great Escape @ NME Radar Stage (Horatios)

Fans of guitar noise will have crossed paths with EMA as the scorching guitarist in legendary folk/noise outfit Amps For Christ before forming the genre-defying cult duo Gowns with Ezra Buchla, which Pitchforkcalled “one of the most heart-stoppingly great live bands on earth” and the Village Voice spluttered succinctly upon seeing them live: “Holy fucking fuck!”.

A native of South Dakota – the sparsely inhabited north end of America’s heartland, EMA has a unique and at times dervish-like guitar style, a skill for visceral songwriting and a DIY recording ethos has seen her develop a distinctive sonic signature. Her songs are somewhat neurotically assembled and essentially raw, the product of obsession by somebody who never learned the ‘right’ way to do things.  Besides making music, EMA has been involved in video, performance and curating multimedia shows in West Oakland and LA.