MUSIC REVIEW 65
Emma Ruth Rundle
Emma Ruth Rundle is a female musician and visual artist from Los Angeles, California. Besides solo career, she played in a band Red Sparowes and was a vocalist and guitarist in bands The Nocturnes and Marriages. Her first solo effort Electric Guitars 1 was a collection of ambient and drone guitar compositions made during the six week tour with Red Sparrows. Her debut was critically acclaimed, as she was resembling Earth, Grouper and Bohern and der Club of Gore.
When the time for the second album came, Emma decided to go in a different direction. Some Heavy Ocean still put guitar in the first plan, but it was not all about ambient music, rather dark folk, drone and experimentations with vocal. The album was released under Sergeant House, known for being a label of Chelsea Wolf. Emma is equally worthy of the attention, especially after dropping her latest record titled Marked For Death.
If we are trying to determine this artist’s style, folk is the closest genre. Work in bands left the creative scar that reflect in experimental approach to folk music. Her music falls somewhere between Marissa Nadler and Chelsea Wolf, albeit it can not be brought down to these parameters. She is not as ethereal, nor dark and Goth as the mentioned female singers. Emma Ruth Rundle found her comfort zone at the intersection of folk and Goth by putting an accent on guitar. The gorgeous vocal is soft enough to pull off easier numbers, while being strong when needed to transmit intense emotions.
Marked For Death is her best release yet. On this album, she showed all of her artistic potential, both vocally and technically. Although a little bit obscure when listened for the first time, it functions as a whole. It is clear that we are dealing with the search for brighter notes and answers that are going to get rid off the dark.
Songs are colored both with experience and projections of future. On the other hand, this is the pinnacle of Emma’s sublimation as each songs reveals her spirit. The power of the interpretation is the album’s strongest asset. From the opening track, Marked For Death, every composition delivers strength, candor and affection. Protection is the best indicator of Emma’s ability to bring the lyrics full of emotion. Hand Of God and Haven are the most touching, since they are covering the theme of death.
In a documentary for the album’s closing track Real Big Sky, Emma talks about how she wants to create a more cheerful music that is going to be a remedy for her mind and soul, which is why we can expect her following record to be different than this one.
