On Marked For Death (September 30, Sargent House), singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle emerges as a performer of naked intensity. She shapes vast, evocative landscapes of sound, combining them with lyrics of devastating candor.
Today, Emma Ruth Rundle has unveiled the second single off of the album; titled “Protection” (premiering now on Stereogum), it is a song which constructs a wall of volume around itself. The flashes of Rundle’s vulnerability and haunting melody of her vocals in turn spark great washes of guitar noise that mushroom into existence like some sonic thunderhead. Engineered/co-produced by Sonny DiPerri, Marked For Death mines feelings of loss, defeat, heartache and self-destructiveness and emerges as Emma Ruth Rundle‘s most honest and compelling accomplishment to date. Nevertheless, fear and self-doubt linger in the shadows of Rundle’s mind, providing an incessant counterpoint to her ambitious talent and sultry, albeit de-emphasized, allure.
Exemplified by the candid, unglamorous cover portrait, Marked For Death takes a persuasive argument for its creator’s utter helplessness in the shadow of defeat. And through a potent dose of dark, hypnotic rock every bit as satisfying as her work with Marriages and Red Sparowes, Marked For Death’s most resonant element is Emma Ruth Rundle herself, settling in to her role as singer/songwriter. Her rich voice, alternately jostled and cradled by the sounds conjured from her guitar, feels more present, perhaps even more deliberate, than ever before.
Emma Ruth Rundle will be on tour in Europe with Wovenhand from September 12th through October 18th; in the meantime, Marked For Death is available for pre-order now through iTunes and HelloMerch. More news coming soon.
Head Honcho, Editor in Chief and writer here on VENTS. I don't like walking on the beach, but I love playing the guitar and geeking out about music. I am also a movie maniac and 6 hours sleeper.