New Irish trio Rún are preparing to release their debut self-titled album on Rocket Recordings on 22nd August, and today share with us another taster in the form of ‘Strike It’.
About the track the band comment, “’Strike It’: A barely contained explosive doom riff with an industrial patina; points to the hypocrisy of a religious institution in profound dereliction of its duty to the most weak and vulnerable of us. The song addresses the macabre details of the Tuam babies controversy in Co. Galway, Ireland.”
The Irish word Rún can mean secret, mystery, or love, or perhaps some elusive combination of the three, reflecting the many aspects of life that defy easy explanation. In wrestling with these, it can become necessary to commit oneself entirely, to jump in at the psychic deep end in search of the vibrations and feelings at hand. This is where the band Rún come in.
The debut album of Rún – the result of three powerful artists locking horns and bringing equally passionate and uncompromising approaches to bear – is no less than an extraordinary collective catharsis. Yet more evidence that true heaviness is about much more than a cranked amp. It’s an emotionally driven and richly atmospheric journey into the darkest recesses of states earthly and unearthly, from a spiritually intrepid outfit who alchemise experimental methods and improvisatory states to reach intimidating heights of sonic and psychic intensity.
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Live dates:
21 Aug / Galway / Roisin Dubh
22 Aug / Cork / Nudes
27 Aug / Dublin / Spindizzy Records (instore)
29-31 Aug / Birmingham / Supersonic Festival
6 Sep / Sligo / Minor Disturbance Festival
15 Nov / London / Rich Mix (w/ Sirom)
19 Nov / Glasgow / The Glad Cafe
20 Nov / Newcastle / The Lubber Fiend
Rún comprise firstly Tara Baoth Mooney – sometime Jim Henson voice artist, with a longstanding background in everything from folk and choral music to experimental film-making. Diarmuid MacDiarmada – Nurse With Wound co-conspirator and brother of Lankum’s Cormac, brings with him the experience of avant-garde collaborations with a plethora of artists stretching back over thirty years. Drummer, sound designer and engineer Rian Trench, meanwhile, has worked on everything from the psychedelic IDM of Solar Bears to auto-generative experiments to orchestral arrangements, and owns the studio – The Meadow on Ireland’s East Coast – in which the album was made.
The disparate artistic practices of the three members of the band collude in this context to create something no member could have foreseen. “Beyond the larger themes we explore, the work is often inspired by dreams, synchronicities, and other uncanny influences found in everyday life” reckons Diarmiud.
Besides this, an extremely diverse range of musical influences make their presence felt here, from William Basinski and Pauline Oliveros to Om, Coil and The Necks. “Suffice to say that there was a variety of sacred musics, acid-folk, cosmic jazz, stoner / sludge-metal, avant-garde composers and a hint of R&B being ground up and baked in with everything else in our wonky witches’ kitchen.” They say, “Things that possibly shouldn’t go together are juxtaposed to create something surprising and new.”
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Photo by Robert ‘Scan’ Watson
Aural Aggravation 