Erika M. Anderson, aka EMA, returns with the second single off her forthcoming Matador debut, The Future’s Void, due out April 8th. Titled “So Blonde”, the “meta-grunge rocker” sounds like Hole with suntan lotion on, and it’s not too far off from that visually. The accompanying video, directed by Vice Cooler and featuring GIFs by Molly Soda, follows Anderson throughout Venice Beach as various filters and 16-bit graphics pop in and out.
“The smiling blonde white woman is the most exploited image in the world,” Anderson explains in a press release. “Can we talk about that? How about discussing if the selfie is a new form of feminist art or just a direct descendant of capitalist advertising? No? Hmm… Yeah, I couldn’t figure out how to put that into a video either. So how’s about I just roll around Venice Beach wearing a Jim Morrison T-shirt while gifs by Molly Soda bounce in and out? OK! That works! The semiotics of palm trees! Everyone gets the shorthand of SoCal. It’ll look great, be fun, and still gets to ask the important questions: How many bits do we have to reduce the dancing blonde babe to before she is no longer a symbol of sexiness? At what point do tits become simply bits? And who owns the sparkly dolphin anyway??””
Cooler offered his two cents, as well, adding: “Venice has always been one of my favorite spots of the world. A magical place where no matter how much these rich assholes try to clean it up and present it as something it is not, its still this trashy beach landscape, a home littered with shitty sunglass shops and weed doctors. Since it is never as muscley as one would imagine, we decided to fill in the blanks with cartoons – though ironically, in this part of California culture, real life and cartoons are a very blurry line.”
Take a much needed beach day below, ya’ll.
Anderson’s also expanded her tour itinerary to include a block of European dates.
EMA 2014 Tour Dates:
03/08-15 – Austin, TX @ South by Southwest
04/24 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
04/25 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
04/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Voyeur
04/27 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
04/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
04/30 – Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
05/01 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
05/03 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
05/04 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
05/05 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick Lounge
05/06 – Toronto, ON @ Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
05/07 – Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
05/09 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
05/10 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
05/17 – Aarhus, DE @ Pop Revo Festival
05/18 – Oslo, NO @ John D
05/19 – Stavanger, NO @ Stavanger Folken
05/21 – Hamburg, DK @ Uebel & Gefährlich
05/22 – Koln, DK @ Blue Shell
05/23 – Berlin, DK @ Prince Charles
05/25 – Padova, IT–Macello
05/26 – Rome, IT @ Circolo degli Artisti
05/27 – Marina di Ravenna, IT @ Hana Bi
05/28 – Zurich, SZ @ Bogen
05/30 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
05/31 – Mannheim, DK @ Maifeld Derby Festival
06/01 – Gent, BE @ DOK Box
06/02 – Paris, FR @ Le Point Ephemere
06/03 – London, UK @ The Garage
06/04 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
06/05 – Leeds, UK @ Brudnell Social Club
06/06 – Bristol, UK @ The Lantern
06/23 – Boise, ID @ The Crux
06/24 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
06/25 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
06/27 – Albuquerque, NM @ Low Spirits
06/28 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
06/29 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
07/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
07/02 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
