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May 16, 2011This powerful debut was a long time in the making, but Past Life Martyred Saints will win Andersen new fans as well as thrill longtime ones.
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May 10, 2011Past Life Martyred Saints is a fiercely individual record, made by a musician with a fearless and courageous approach to her art. Crucially, the desire to let such raw emotion out in song never feels forced.
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UncutMay 13, 2011Raw in texture but ambitious in scope. [May 2011, p.86]
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May 13, 2011EMA's work is simultaneously some of the most interesting I've heard in years, and jaggedly alive, the furthest thing from any sort of academic exercise.
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MojoMay 16, 2011Anderson never sounds too like any of those people for comfort, she just projects a similarly high level of sinewy individuality. [Jun 2011, p.94]
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May 10, 2011A new, added tunefulness makes this a much-welcome Exile In Nihilist-ville.
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May 10, 2011Past Life Martyred Saints is an album that leaves a mark.
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May 16, 2011While the ennui is predominantly directed inward-with such lines as "I wish that every time he touched me left a mark" ("Marked") rasped so convincingly it's tough not to feel her emotional wounds--it's impossible to dismiss Past Life Martyred Saints as mere navel-gazing.
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May 10, 2011Not easy, but often fascinating, wholly rewarding and genuinely cathartic.
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May 10, 2011A record that is both magical and heartbreaking, Past Life Martyred Saints looks to be a beautiful start for Anderson, who has a small handful of live shows set up for the summer.
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May 10, 2011This is labour intensive listening, but hard work reaps rewards. A gnomic, genre-busting album.
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May 13, 2011Though Gowns foreshadowed a lot of what Anderson is about (avant-garde noise-folk, elliptical lyrics), going solo has allowed her to make something genuinely personal and almost frighteningly honest.
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May 10, 2011Past Life Martyred Saints sounds as if it's trying to save rock, but without any winks or nods.
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Jul 11, 2011It's not always the most comfortable thing to listen to, but like the proverbial car crash, it's hard to tear yourself away.
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May 12, 2011Despite the often dull music, the album is an overall cohesive success. It all ties together well, and it owes its quality to the unwavering confidence of her delivery, both musically and lyrically.
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Nov 30, 2011As an album, a glorious rawness and disregard for verse-chorus-verse simplicity runs throughout, but it strains for cohesion.
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Aug 8, 2011The most intense moments in Past Life Martyred Saints are evocative enough to drag you back through your own most overblown emotional crises, but when the buzz fades, you are plopped back into the halcyon present, strangely empty.
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May 11, 2011From epic opener "The Grey Ship," to the equally epic closing track "Red Star," Past Life Martyred Saints is an album that captivates, provokes, and pleases.
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Jun 8, 2011Past Life Martyred Saints is more focused and confident than the work of many of Andersen's peers. It's likely we've not even heard her best yet. And even if not, this is pretty sweet as is.
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May 25, 2011She has a huge talent for drama--when to build, when to break, when to whisper or coo or yell, when to camp a while in a looping melody and when to move on--and the album's 37 minutes feel majestic and unhurried.
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Feb 2, 2012Insofar as she pretends her willful pose is the holy truth, she's annoying. What saves that pose is the willful power of a presentation less Courtney Love or Chan Marshall than PJ Harvey.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 28 out of 34
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Mixed: 2 out of 34
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Negative: 4 out of 34
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Oct 2, 2011
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Jul 6, 2011
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Jan 21, 2012