After the release of her third album Marked For Death last year (which allowed her to terminally prove her talent), Emma Ruth Rundle dropped a collab EP with Jaye Jayle.
Jaye Jayle is a project by Evan Patterson from Young Widows, and it has been freshly signed to record label Sergeant House, the same one Emma Ruth is in. The Time Between Us includes songs that are redundant on regular releases of these musicians. So, there are three Emma’s songs and three Jaye’s songs.
The first association that comes to mind is the one by Chelsea Wolfe and King Dude, mainly because Chelsea is also signed to Sergeant House. Such a move of the record label is well though of as it has a purpose to promote new artists. In this case, that is Emma Ruth Rundle who could really have an interesting music path.
As I have already written, Emma’s music is atmospheric, obscure and leans towards Goth folk. On this record, the things are a little bit different. Even the cover suggest it with Emma being dressed in pink with plastic flowers in her hands and heavy makeup on her face. Jaye is in blue, with cowboy hat on his head. The combination of male and female principle, a cowboy and a lady, the light and darkness, Americana and folk – works here. The Time Between Us is a love record that accentuates bipolar opposition between feminine and masculine, but it also conceptualizes the unity of the two principles.
Apropos Emma, she noted her wish was to create a little bit more joyful music. Even though that didn’t totally occur here, the songs are definitely less heavy. The Distance is vague number spurred by Emma’s gorgeous vocal. It sounds both dreamy and lucid, reminiscing her latest album but also bringing some art rock vibe to it. Anyhow, the song would fit into Twin Peaks soundtrack. The following track To Fold In England (Hours) is even more serious, but it’s clear why it didn’t find its place on Marked For Death. It could stand on its own. Hand Of God lost its magic in acoustic version, since it was the sound that gave it thrilling power. Luckily, Emma’s interpretation compensated everything.
The second part of the album is comprised of Jaye Jayle’s songs, a typical Americana numbers dancing on the thin line between dark folk and art rock. Jaye’s voice is obscure and energetic, but it’s still not aggressive and dominant in comparison to Emma’s story. All three songs are warm Americana ballades skillfully played.
The love story between a cowboy and a lady is an effective material that lures us into wanting to hear more from them, both solo and in collaboration.
