30th March: Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (dream pop, 2018)
My music spreadsheet used to have quite a sophisticated live function to it, bumping albums
of artists that are playing shows soon higher up so I can decide if they’re worth seeing. In
around April of 2020 I re-did my spreadsheet, and I didn’t bother to put the live album
function back, because I thought it would be a while. Fastforward to a big longer than “a
while” later, and I felt it was about time it made a return. With New Zealand’s borders
finally (we hope) opening after more than two years of cultural isolation, we may get live
music back. It was the announcement of Emma’s tour with Chelsea Wolfe, postponed from June
2020, that prompted me to bring the live function back, so it’s kind of fitting that this one
shows up first.
This is a lot better than I remember it to be. I’ve not heard it for a few years now, and all
I can recall is that most of those listens were in Manchester, and that I thought the
introduction of heavier elements was a bit of fan service from an artist that for whatever
reason has found herself with a lot of metalhead fans. But you know what, I did it a
disservice. This isn’t Marked for Death, nor could I expect an album to reach that height
without the nostalgic attachment side of it, but it’s a sonically interesting and passionate
take on several genres. There’s folk, pop, noise, metal and all sorts of alternative here,
but it’s still all built around the singer/songwriter tradition, which I find a fascinating
mix. The songs miss some marks in terms of memorability at times, but I think they’re well
compensated for in the production and performance departments.
7.3 (4th listen)
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