Erika Michelle Anderson (born January 28, 1982), better known by her stage name EMA, is an American singer and songwriter originally from
South Dakota, who presently lives in
Portland, Oregon. She fronted the noise-folk band Gowns, from 2006 to 2010, releasing one album, 2007's Red State.[2] After Gowns disbanding, she released her debut album Little Sketches on Tape in 2010 on Night People, an independent music label founded by former
Raccoo-oo-oon member Shawn Reed. In 2011 EMA released her second album Past Life Martyred Saints, which received positive reviews from
Pitchfork Media,[3]Drowned in Sound,[4] and the NME.[5] After releasing her debut album, EMA was named "New Band of the Day" by The Guardian[6] and "Artist to Watch" by Rolling Stone.[7] In 2011 she performed "Endless, Nameless" for Spin's twentieth anniversary tribute to
Nirvana's album Nevermind.[8] Her song "The Grey Ship" was used on an episode of
Adult Swim's Off the Air, and in the 2014
Carter Smith film Jamie Marks Is Dead.
EMA released her third studio album, Exile in the Outer Ring, on August 25, 2017 through
City Slang. The first single was "Aryan Nation" and dedicated to the people of "heartland America", where she is from.[10] The single was inspired by the British skinhead film, This Is England.[11]