When EMA released lead track ‘The Grey Ship’ last December it looked as though nothing could stop her peculiar brand of alchemy. The seven minute song scopes three genres and utilises every instrument imaginable to create an enchanting amalgam of melody. It’s definitively experimental and ground-breaking in composition. Understandably, fans have come to expect a lot of Past Life Martyred Saints.

Erika Anderson doesn’t fail to deliver. Her album is so diverse that every listen raises a different opinion, making it impossible to highlight a standout track or even a moment that embodies Past Life Martyred Saints’ spirit. From the Kim Gordon inspired deadpan of ‘California’ to the garage sweat of ‘Milkman’, Anderson’s creativity is rarely inhibited. But when a release is so versatile, does it threaten to become unmemorable?

By and large, Anderson’s adaptability overcomes her inability to simmer down. It doesn’t matter that Past Life Martyred Saints makes a scattergun attack on musical custom – this album is coherent because it doesn’t aim for structure. Often tracks contain more than one conventional song. The interlude part way through ‘Coda’ would – in any other instance – signify the beginning of another song, but EMA uses the break to strengthen the unpredictability of Past Life Martyred Saints.

Elsewhere tracks blend seamlessly into one another; fail to watch the dial and you’ll lose your bearings between ‘California’ and ‘Anteroom’. The first four songs benefit from this approach, jolting between equally tantalising slices of no wave gold. However some of what follows is overindulgent, and a few inspired moments get lost in the fray. Thankfully with the exception of ‘Marked’, which is a point of reference for the shift, EMA doesn’t succumb to her primal urges and sacrifice her accessibility for her novice appeal.

There’s enough material on Past Life Martyred Saints to encompass EMA’s entire career without any repetition. The artistic possibilities for her future releases are endless. It’s phenomenal for a musician to display such sonic capabilities on a debut; regardless of all other criticism, EMA could never be branded a one trick pony. Her album emplifies an undying, unrelenting hunger for something new, and that’s why it’s so utterly glorious.