Review Summary: An ominous album with decorative ambience.
I will not lie, I was captivated by Emma Ruth Rundle upon my first listen to her music back in 2012 with Marriages. While that project is more of a post-rock and shoegaze outfit, Rundle herself has a soft, intrusive and surprisingly ominous side of her. Her debut solo album Some Heavy Ocean is out tomorrow from Sargent House Records.
Rundle begins the album with grace and authority, swelling her way into the mix with her eerie beginning track 'Some Heavy Ocean'. She follows this with an emotional song that showcases more of what will come forth in the following 36 minutes, 'Shadows Of My Name.' The song features a strong pull of emotions packed into the pulsating strums of acoustic guitar. While the background of the mix fades in and out with melodies, Rundle's voice breaks through the threshold with power. The wall of ambience is pushed along with multiple slide guitars pacing their way about in the background. The song ends abruptly while 'Your Card The Sun' takes over with natural harmonics and a fading voice, leading into one of the catchiest songs of the album, 'Run Forever.' The chorus has an additional amount of addiction laced into it, making you crave to hear it over and over, "If we both get caught then we'll run forever, if we both go down we go down together." The rests and pauses between each word correlate well with what the drums are doing. It is a simple melody with a definitive strength about it. Even the way the higher end of the harmony trembles in the approach, absolutely beautiful.
'Haunted Houses' is brought to life by the atmosphere that swirls around the picked notes. The entire album is littered with ambience, bringing about a sorrowful tone to the music. The ambience is placed with character though, as if to drown out the presence of empty space, instead filling the void with complimentary overtones. The following track 'Arms I Know So Well' has a beautiful mix of violins, just one of the many examples of different instruments adding life to the album. 'Oh Sarah' has an airy presence to the song, giving off the presence of a ghost in the room. This is captivated by Rundle's delivery, progressing from soft to full voice with ease. 'Savage Saint' reminds me of a track that would be done by HRVRD, even showcasing a similar pitch and range between vocalists. The song plays out much like a ballad, easily able to complicate the air waves with intricate strings and somber vocals.
The penultimate 'We Are All Ghosts' has my favorite vocals done on this album, showcased in the chorus. They mesh together, harmonizing with the swirl of instruments backing them. As the song begins its descent to the end, the mix becomes more introspective. The vocals fade out while the background music dictates the closing seconds. The last song, 'Living With The Black Dog' features a heavy distorted instrument working with Rundle's voice to wrap up the album. Some Heavy Ocean is a promising debut, with many fantastic factors fastened into the ten tracks.
