Erika M. Anderson, better known as EMA, has just released her new album, something she cautiously describes as a “West Coast noise and sci-fi record.” It deals a lot with social media. The Future’s Void isn’t vapid like #Selfie, it’s the antithesis to that (even if you argue #Selfie is vapid on purpose and therefore self-aware, being self-aware doesn’t preclude you from also being vapid). It also isn’t so much of a criticism of social media as a commentary on it, with its opening track Satellites showing the darkest hole Facebook and Oculus could bring us down.
In a phone interview with Grantland, EMA said that she wasn’t really criticizing social media or the internet and general, just taking a deeper look at it.
“There are some songs that talk about some personal experiences I found frustrating, but I also think that the diversity of styles on the record is pro-Internet and pro-technology. “
Regardless of the intention of the album as a whole, Satellites does paint a bleak picture. On its own, as a song, it is a criticism, or at least a warning, of the possible result of our hyper consumed culture, she is also clearly concerned about the future of advertising and social media. Other tracks also focus on social media (although, not all of them) 3Jane is about a woman who wakes up one day to find her life ruined by the internet.
“They take your popular photo, or one like it, and apply it to their campaign. And now every time that you see your photo or you are just walking on the beach and having that moment, your brain has been colonized by that ad campaign.”
I’m not going to try to analyze the track anymore than that, I am not a music critic, but it is worth pointing out that she does don an Oculus Rift, in the music video and on the cover. That makes Satellites and The Future’s Void seem to unintentionally predict the Facebook, Oculus deal, although EMA admits in the interview that the timing was just coincidental.
Anyway, check out the video below. Even if just for the weirdness factor. EMA’s The Future’s Void released yesterday (April 8th) you can find it, along with other videos, on the album’s site.
[Photo Credit: Matador Records]
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