It’s artists like EMA who remind me that music is an art form. The lyrics are raw poetry, and every whisper, yell, pause, and fill are placed where they are for a reason. Her show at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Talk Normal and Nü Sensae showcased her emotive set of self-expression well, and her connection with the crowd that came out to see her was reinforcement that her music hits a deeper, more meaningful chord that people can really relate to and appreciate.

EMA also has some credible cult status from being part of Gowns, and with her solo project she cuts to the bone even more, and comes across as honest and healthy catharsis. Before she even started playing, I heard someone behind me say that the last time he saw her play live he cried. That made me think of how she might be kind of like yoga – she cuts to the core and can be punishing, but it feels surprisingly good so you want more. Really, her songs just seem to get people. EMA has this way of distilling feelings everyone has into this musical art form that is both raw and poignant, and no matter what, it will hit you somewhere. Maybe some part of you that you didn’t realize was there until now, or maybe forgotten or pushed way down. EMA digs it back up, holds it in front of you, and shows you an aspect you didn’t see before. She’s our mirrors.

It was the kind of show where everyone there could have their own special moment of appreciation, whether it was singing along to the repeating line “If this time through, we don’t get it right, I’ll come back to you, in another life,” in “Anteroom,” or when she said, “This is for you – not the blogs – you,” pointing out with her arm fully extended, or when she danced across the stage to “Milkman.” Not to mention the encore of spontaneous song requests, when someone requested a Hole song, so she brought out Nü Sensae’s Daniel Pitout out to sing “Miss World” with her. They pulled it off so well I almost find it hard to believe that was a spontaneous first.

Pitout is a great frontman, although in Nü Sensae he’s mostly behind the drum kit. Even without a mic, he interacted with the crowd and cracked jokes between songs. The trio’s grunge punk was reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins in their heyday, with Andrea Lukic’s vocals oscillating between gutteral yells and banshee screams, the super heavy bottomed driving bass lines, and the dredgy reverb all around. Although, Lukic’s vocals never did get quite loud enough no matter how high they cranked the levels.

I totally forgot that Talk Normal was also on the bill, and was stoked to be reminded when they started setting up. The last time I saw them was at Mercury Lounge, so I was interested to see them again in a difference atmosphere, and from another angle. Drummer Andrya Ambro still sits (sometimes) on her drum set high chair, and guitarist Sarah Register still pulls out her screwdriver to slide down her guitar strings. What has changed is that Register now sings much more instead of Andrea. It still sounded like the timing was off in some of the songs, but another thing that hasn’t changed is that technicality is still neither the point nor the goal. Instead, they’re continuing to push their own sonic boundaries, and their experiments are only helping them along.

EMA and Nü Sensae are continuing to tour together through March, ending in Boise, ID at Tree Fort Music Fest. Talk Normal have no more listed dates as of now, but you can follow their musical moves on their Facebook.

Photos (c) Kelly Knapp