This is debut music from the ethereal performer Emma Ruth Rundle. The video for “Arms I Know So Well” is a beautiful portrayal of solitude and living with one’s self, directed by Thomas McMahan. “Arms I Know So Well” is from her first album, called Some Heavy Ocean. Currently, she is on tour with Boris in her other project, a rock band called Marriages.
See All Marriages Tour dates Aug 16 - Seattle, Wash. @ The Crocodile Aug 17 - Vancouver, B.C. @ Rickshaw Theatre Aug 18 - Portland, Ore. @ Doug Fir Lounge Aug 20 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent Aug 21 - Santa Cruz, Calif. @ The Catalyst Atrium Aug 22 - San Luis Obispo, Calif. @ SLO Brew
“Impressive showing this week for Emma Ruth Rundle as she wins this round of The Freshmen. “Arms I Know So Well” directed by Thomas McMahan will be added into full rotation next week. Congrats to Emma Ruth Rundle and thanks to all the bands and fans that voted.” Song is from the album Some Heavy Ocean.
And don’t miss Emma Ruth Rundle’s band Marriages on tour with Helms Alee starting January 21st - See All Marriages dates below
The full album stream of Emma Ruth Rundle’s “Some Heavy Ocean” is now online at Pitchfork Advance all this week of May 12 -19th. All photos for the album were done by Red Sparowes & Marriages band mate and incredible photographer Greg Burns. The Album will be officially released worldwide on May 20th on Sargent House and is available for pre-order on cd, vinyl HERE (orders are shipping now a week before release).
Emma Ruth Rundle will be making her European show debut on August 27th at the Sargent House label show in Dublin at Button Factory.
In the post-rock outfit Red Sparowes, Emma Ruth Rundle wields her guitar like glacial force of nature. She’s explored other sounds in her projects Nocturnes and Marriages, and even with her textural, experimental releases as a solo artists. But her new solo album, Some Heavy Ocean, is something else entirely. On stunning songs like “Shadows Of My Name,” which is being debuted here, Rundle lends folky twang and her poignant voice to sprawling swells of blackened atmosphere and mood. In a sea of dark-folk contenders, “Shadows Of My Name” overflows.
When I saw Emma Ruth Rundle perform with one of her main bands, Marriages (she also plays in Red Sparowes), in Boston last July, her group was the hypnotic and gripping opening act for Deafheaven. Now the LA-based singer/guitarist has taken a short break to release Some Heavy Ocean, her debut solo album, from which we heard something very personal and intimate in the form of debut single “Arms I Know So Well.” Now Rundle has released another Some Heavy Ocean track, “Run Forever,” which only reinforces the feelings set into motion by its predecessor. Here Rundle manages to wring a novel’s worth of naked emotion from her guitar and voice, which shifts from whispery lows to pained peaks with lightness of a feather.
Happy One Year Anniversary to Emma Ruth Rundle’s beautiful solo record “Some Heavy Ocean”. To celebrate,we have made it $5 through the holiday weekend HERE.
“Arms I Know So Well” music video, directed by Thomas McMahan
Standing well on her own two feet, Emma Ruth Rundle has released the first single from her forthcoming solo album, due out May 20 on Sargent House. She is best known for her work in Red Sparowes and Marriages, but this first listen feels like a necessary endeavor. The opening is wistful and ghostly, as her voice and guitar stand solitarily in reverberant space. The sparse arrangement pierces straight to the heart and leaves no room for doubt that her melancholy cries for comfort and redemption are an exorcism of sorts. Gently in the background, the strings moan like a tortured soul calling from the grave for deliverance. Her beautifully tortured cry of “please deliver me from all the evil I’ve done to myself and deliver me to arms I know so well” acts as a prologue to the story that is to unfold through the rest of her album. If these goosebumps are telling, it is sure to be amongst the top in those year end lists. - Jacqueline Caruso
Known for her work in Red Sparowes, Marriages, and The Nocturnes, Emma Ruth Rundle’s first official solo album Some Heavy Ocean presents a collection of impassioned, cathartic songs exorcising the ghosts of one of life’s dark detours. Melancholic, but equally hopeful and accessible, the album wears its emotions on its sleeve. One critic described Rundle’s voice as “bone-chilling texture filled to the brim with intent”, and a better description is difficult to imagine; when paired with her compelling guitar playing, and enduring spirit takes root.
Some Heavy Ocean will be available everywhere on CD, LP and digital formats on May 20 from Sargent House and Ghettoblaster caught up with her to discuss it. This is what she told us about the undertaking.
King Buzzo & Emma Ruth Rundle Tour 2014 Jun 28 - Milwaukee, WI (US) Shank Hall Jun 30 - Grand Rapids, MI (US) @ The Pyramid Scheme Jul 01 - Columbus, OH (US) @ A&R Music Bar Jul 02 - Hamtramck, MI (US) @ Small’s Bar Jul 03 - Cleveland Heights, OH (US) @ Grog Shop Jul 05 - Syracuse, NY (US) @ The Westcott Theater Jul 06 - South Burlington, VT (US) @ Higher Ground Jul 07 - Portland, ME (US) @ Port City Music Hall Jul 09 - Dover, NH (US) @ Dover Brick House Jul 18 - Charlottesville, VA (US) @ The Southern Jul 19 - Charlotte, NC (US) @ Visulite Theatre Jul 20 - Carrboro, NC (US) @ Cat’s Cradle Jul 22 - Atlanta, GA (US) @ The Basement Jul 23 - Birmingham, AL (US) @ The Bottletree Jul 26 - Houston, TX (US) @ Warehouse Live Jul 27 - Austin, TX (US) @ Red 7 Jul 28 - San Antonio, TX (US) @ Limelight Jul 30 - Tucson, AZ (US) @ Club Congress Jul 31 - Pioneertown, CA (US) @ Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
To date, Emma Ruth Rundle’s stabs at crafting a musical identity have been tentative ones. As the frontwoman of the L.A.-based projects the Nocturnes and Marriages, her eerie voice has been all but smothered by male accompanists, prog denseness, cyclonic distortion, or her own hushed delivery. The fact that she’s a stunningly supple and versatile guitarist—her skills are a vital component of the post-rock ensemble Red Sparowes—hasn’t given her that much reason to step up her vocal game. Even her previous solo material has been guitar-centric and mostly instrumental. But Rundle’s new solo album, Some Heavy Ocean, is different. She not only sings, she does so a lot—and when she does, she soars.