Errant Child – 18th September 2026
Christopher Nosnibor
These Killing Times is Emma Ruth Rundle’s sixth studio album. It’s released on her own Errant Child label, and it’s a bold work.
As we learn from the accompanying notes, it weas ‘written as she watched from afar the devastating effects of yet another climate disaster unfold in early 2025, Emma reflected on the roots of the systemic issues that filter directly into so many catastrophic global events, and made a conscious choice to reach towards making a hopeful record. Where outside forces tempted her to turn inwards, towards isolation and hopelessness, she instead reached outwards to create a record that acknowledges pain, but offers both community and resilience in response.’
I keep thinking, and saying this – as much as anything in an attempt to process the information: the word is on fire. The world is at war. Just because World War 3 has not been declared doesn’t change the fact that with Russia vs Ukraine, The US vs Iran and the spread around the Middle East, not to mention the fringe involvement of the UK and other NATO allies in supposedly ‘defensive’ moves, and civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar, the globe is pretty hot right now. I omit Israel’s assault on Gaza and the West Bank from this list because the disproportionate imbalance disqualifies this as a war, and I shall move on from there because this is ultimately an album review, but the points and distinctions need to be made, and are fitting in context of the album’s title and inspiration. Also, when I say that the world is on fire… this is no exaggeration.
There is a sense that doing your recycling and so in is but pissing in the wind, but you have to play your part, right?
On These Killing Times, Emma Ruth Rundle takes her time in exploring her themes: all bar two f the album’s tracks extend beyond the five-minute mark, and the lilting piano of the first song, ‘Powerless’ makes for a song which is more uplifting than the title suggests. But powerless is how I’ve felt these last few months. Weak, defeated, drained, as if there was nothing I could do. But I digress: from behind the rippling notes and layered vocals blast powerful riffs which are quintessential grunge. And the way she chews her words… is glorious. It speaks of a social awkwardness, a self-conscious contradiction that balances the desire to be heard with an embarrassment of being heard too clearly. This was, of course, the dichotomy which lay at the heart of grunge, and was a particular contradiction which lay at the heart of Nirvana: the words mattered, but it was too much to sing the words with clarity.
‘God’s Picture’ is a slow-builder, whereby layers build as does the song’s power. By the end, It’s simply enormous. ‘Anvil’ is, meanwhile, subtle in its approach but, in the chorus, as heavy as the title suggests. Her vocals venture skywards with an almost folky quality towards the end of the song, but it’s the turbulence of the build which has the most impact. ‘Catherine Wheel’ spins with a rare energy, her vocal soaring and spiralling skyward.
Stripping things back, which she does – albeit infrequently – for ‘Don’t Delay Heven’ Rundle becomes most open in revealing her vulnerable side, and ‘Enough’, too is both sparse but heavy, and the intensity of the final two minutes is phenomenal, a brain—melting swirl.
These Killing Times is almost schizophrenic in the way it flicks between ponderous folk and mega riffs, but that’s it’s success, ultimately. What an album.
AA
AA
