A Worthwhile Thematic Exploration
Outtakes and B-Sides have always held a strange place within the landscape of modern music. Oftentimes they are lazy additions to quality works that exist only to make more money off of a name or a successful project. The rare few that are quality tend to add a deeper level of understanding to the main work by pulling the listener into the headspace of the artist and seeing what just barely missed the cut. On Outtakes From Exile, EMA (Erika M. Anderson) manages to release a short EP that adds to previous work while managing to stand on its own as a project.
The first track, “Dark Shadows,” contains many of the signature elements of EMA that fans have come to know and love. Guitars grind and scream across the background while a lulling synth and sampled vocals flutter across the background to keep the track grounded. Vocally, the track calls to mind current era Dinosaur Jr., making for an interesting comparison between the two bands. Lyrics are nearly whispered in a gravelly voice, as though Anderson had just awoken after a night of heavy partying. It is an interestingly calm track for EMA that manages to incorporate some of her more aggressive elements in a rather benign way. “Moptops (Twist While the World Stops)” is much more upbeat than almost any EMA track before it. Listeners will be happy to hear the guitars squeal across the background from time to time, but this track would fit just as well on an album by The Cure as it would an EMA record. Her changes in direction are interesting, as they still manage to blend her signature elements into established genres while remaining true to both artistic worlds.
Towards the latter end of the album, listeners will get a stronger taste of the EMA that they have come to know and love. “From The Love That We Made” is immediately noisier and more aggressive than any other track before it. Static bleeds across the whole foundation of the track, while grinding guitar feedback pummels the listener. Vocals are delivered with an anguished malice that threatens to break into a scream should the occasion arise. It is no coincidence then that this is the best track on the entire album. Its instrumental violence is a welcome return to form for EMA on the record, despite a rather strange acoustic ending. While the last song may not be an original track for this record, it still goes a long way to add to its namesake. “Breathalyzer Instrumental (EMA Long Cut)” is the expanded instrumental for “Breathalyzer” which was one of the strongest tracks from 2017s Exile in the Outer Ring. Where the original was vicious, the expanded edition is ruinous, but in the best of ways. It takes every idea contained in the original and blows it out to infinite degrees. It’s violent and sludgy like Boris, but pitchy and calculated to such a degree that it calls to mind Young Team era Mogwai. Rarely are expanded editions of any kind much better than the original, but this track is something else entirely and should be a must listen to any fan of noisy music.
It’s good to get releases like this once in awhile. They’re low pressure and cathartic. At the very worst they can be ignored as a half-baked companion piece, but when well executed, they’re capable of adding so much more to an already incredible album. Each track off of Exile Outtakes would be worth a listen even if it didn’t use the name of its forebearer in the title. Listening to it grants a sense of place and a stronger grasp of what helped make Exile in the Outer Ring such a special album. Every EMA fan owes it to themselves to listen to it, and anyone who has even brushed against noise rock will find something to love within the grooves of this immaculate companion piece.
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