Aural Aggravation

‘Enough’ is the scathing new track to be taken from Emma Ruth Rundle’s These Killing Times. The album will be released via her own imprint Errant Child on 18th September.

Clocking in at 6 minutes and 29 seconds, ‘Enough’ serves as a reminder of how Emma Ruth Rundle uniquely fuses gentleness and intensity. Opening with a hypnotic drum rhythm (courtesy of Jess Gowrie, drummer for Chelsea Wolfe and Mrs Piss), the single is driven by a deep-toned acoustic guitar riff that nonetheless offers a sense of calm. A distinct note of optimism emerges the moment the iconic singer’s voice enters—a sentiment that swells during the choruses, which grow increasingly impassioned with each repetition, ultimately building to a crushing heaviness in a climax tormented by Patrick Shiroishi’s saxophone. It is a track that offers comfort, even as its message proves scathing. Emma elaborates:

“‘Enough’ is inspired by the ‘Man Who Sold The World’ – and in a retelling of the story of Elijah, we imagine him as an Elon Musk type figure – we ask – is not the whole world enough? We ask the many gods to unleash vengeance and carry this man away into the angry sky – piece by piece  – this song is a reflection of the times we live in and is a vision for the dispensation of the billionaire class. The world belongs to all beings."

Conceived by Emma in collaboration with artists Mason Rose and Blake Armstrong, and edited by Mitch Wells, the music video for ‘Enough’ showcases a gothic theatricality that is sure to pique curiosity. Almost as if Nosferatu had landed in the world of legendary puppeteer Jim Henson—a major inspiration for the visual universe of These Killing Times — the video depicts the singer haunted by a creature known as ‘The Companion’. The video’s atmosphere, at once romantic and dark, is further heightened by a series of shots that look for all the world like stop-motion animation.

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These Killing Times is electrifying, emotional and charged with anti-patriarchal feminist rage. The forthcoming studio album from the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and multi-disciplinary artist is a reactive anthology, bristling, full of life and full of resistance.

Although this new album possesses a spirit of defiance, it retains the tenderness, rawness and vulnerability that saw her previous globally acclaimed full-length, Engine of Hell (2021), resonate with so many listeners.

These Killing Times returns to a full-band set up for a fuller sound, a more sonically powerful accompaniment to her now more direct vocal style. The album features drummer Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe, Mrs. Piss), long-time friend and collaborator Troy Zeigler, Patrick Shiroishi, Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos), Gina Gleason (Baroness), Marissa Nadler, Lukas Frank (Storefront Church) and Amelia Baker (Cinder Well). The instrumentation is brighter and more urgent than ever before, lending a fascinating magnetism to Emma’s music which feels fresh and new.

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Photo credit: Mason Rose