A few years ago in the UK the acronym EMA would have been most commonly associated with the Education Maintenance Allowance. Nowadays it belongs firmly to Erika M. Anderson, a 22 year old singer/songwriter from the US Midwest whose debut album Past Life Martyred Saints was released in 2011. David Wilkinson detects the ghost of 1990s grunge in its confessional soundscape, and muses as to whether this particular branch of nostalgia is always a good thing
Take Me Out has recently returned for a second series on ITV. Danielle Almond wondered what this latest incarnation of the prime time dating show had to say about mainstream ideas of gender roles
Headed by singer and writer Emma-Lee Moss, anti-folk act Emmy the Great have achieved cult success, but have yet to be embraced more widely. Described as a lyricist who can talk about emotion without resorting to blunt clichés, Moss's intensely personal songs use the voices of archetypal female protagonists and her lyrics are said to be the act's secret weapon. Vicki Ell reports on a live performance at the Women of the World Festival 2012, London Southbank
With her positively geeky enthusiasm for the making of her music, eccentric costumes and abundant charisma, Barbara Panther is an unforgettable performer. Her distinctive voice has seen her compared to Bjork, Grace Jones and Fever Ray but she has a style all of her own. Cazz Blase checks out her self-titled album and finds Panther to be an artist with imagination, an ability to tell stories and musical inventiveness