EMA really has a thing for Danzig — so much so that she’s chosen to cover “Soul on Fire” twice.
The story begins 16 years ago back when Erika M. Anderson was just a budding 18-year-old musician with a taste for heavy metal. She had the pleasure of meeting Danzig backstage at a show, and recently shared the pictures from that joyous meeting in celebration of her idol’s 61st birthday. Spurred to inspiration by her tweet, she decided to record a cover of Danzig’s “Soul on Fire”, a track she actually already covered five years prior.
There are a few fascinating things here. One, who would’ve guessed that EMA was such a die-hard Danzig fan? Two, it’s interesting to hear how different her “Soul on Fire Redux” is to her original take on the track. Back when she first recorded it, it fell firmly into the electronic, noise folk sounds we’ve come to expect from the artist. On her “Redux”, however, she keeps herself to just two guitars, some echo-y vocal layers, and a purely gritty aesthetic. And it was recorded in just one take, to boot.
Take a listen to both below, followed by EMA’s series of tweets regarding “Soul on Fire Redux”.
For even deeper comparison, here’s Danzig’s original “Soul on Fire”:
