Portland songwriter EMA didn’t ask to be music’s spokesperson for the social-media generation. Yet the artist, aka Erika Anderson, has ignited conversation over the lyrics on her sophomore record, The Future’s Void, a noise-rock epic full of abrasive synth lines and brooding drum beats.

“I think there’s a misconception with some of the language I’m using, because it’s very new,” Anderson says. “Internet terms in a rock song.”

Her inspiration was the online reaction to her debut record, Past Life Martyred Saints, which was lauded by the likes of Pitchfork and Spin but also racked up derogatory comments by online trolls. “I went offline feeling unsettled and unsafe,” she said in an interview with The

Guardian earlier this year.

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he Future’s Void explores those realms of the digital world, with an added paranoia. With the lyrics “Feels like I blew my soul out across the interwebs,” the song “3Jane” touches on the emotional disconnect so many online users experience. Elsewhere, the stirring “Dead Celebrity” addresses the morality of clickbait, and “Neuromancer” broaches the topic of selfies—and Lucifer.

Voi

d has also been well-received, yet Anderson feels that her word choices have caused some confusion over what she’s really trying to say. “I feel like [some people] misinterpreted [“Neuromancer’] as being a rebuke on narcissistic millennials,” she says. “That’s the words of the older generation talking . . . We’re seeing another generational divide.” Yet, as she told Seattle Weekly while in town for the Capitol Hill Block Party, her intent wasn’t to indict the modern generation, but to spark dialogue about Internet culture.

“It seems ridiculous to pretend those things don’t exist, people don’t use words like [selfie],” she says. “People spend a huge portion of their time online. So why not talk about it?” EMA With Magic Mouth. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9467, thebarboza.com. $13 adv. 21 and over. 7 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24.

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