Synopsis

The "Marked" video presents EMA and San Francisco artist Alexis Blair Penney in stark black-and-white imagery. Its spare, portrait-like approach favors faces, bodies, close framing, and uneasy physical gestures over a conventional narrative. The monochrome photography gives the clip a cold, intimate atmosphere, turning the song's fixation on touch, vulnerability, and lasting damage into a tense visual study. EMA's presence anchors the piece, while Penney's appearance adds a second figure through which the song's emotional unease can be externalized.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Marked" appeared on EMA's debut album, *Past Life Martyred Saints*. The song was written while Erika M. Anderson was still touring with Gowns, making it one of the earliest completed pieces for the record.

• Anderson later recalled writing the song in a "hallucinatory state" and completing its recording in a single take.

• The clip features Alexis Blair Penney, a San Francisco artist who was also scheduled to open for EMA at the Independent in San Francisco during the 2011 tour.

• Its carefully composed black-and-white look represented a move away from the deliberately lo-fi feel of EMA's earlier videos.

• "Marked" was paired with "Angelo" for a limited single release. The 7-inch was capped at 1,000 copies, with the first 200 pressed on clear vinyl.

• "Angelo" featured Oakland rapper Mz'Gorjis and explored the different ways people try to make a name for themselves in Oakland.