Emma Ruth Rundle's 'These Killing Times' Is the Full-Band Record She's Been Circling for a Decade
These Killing Times landed September 18th on Errant Child. PopMatters gave it 9/10 and John Amen’s framing has stuck: “This is the album Emma Ruth Rundle has long wanted and been destined to make. These Killing Times marks the actualization of a signature artist.” Album of the Year has it at 82 across four reviews, with Treble calling it “a galvanizing work of bringing people together for the sake of playing loud.”
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Rundle co-produced with Sonny DiPerri, who also recorded, engineered and mixed the record at LMNL Studios in Santa Monica and Octopus Beak in Los Angeles, with additional engineering from Zach Capittifenton. Troy Zeigler’s bass and Jess Gowrie’s drums are captured as one instrument rather than two — Gowrie’s kick and Zeigler’s root notes occupy the same envelope, which is why eight songs of mid-tempo material never sag.
The Spatial Dynamics: Stephen Marcussen mastered it, and the dynamic range is the point. The loud passages aren’t loud because they’re limited into the ceiling; they’re loud because the quiet ones were left genuinely quiet. Nick Reinhart’s guitar leads on “Powerless” and Patrick Shiroishi’s saxophone on “God’s Picture” both arrive in space that was deliberately held open for them.
Standout Performance
Gowrie. A drummer who can make “Anvil” feel enormous while playing fewer notes than the arrangement invites is doing the hardest job on the record.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ “Powerless” opens it with Amelia Baker’s vocal harmonies and Reinhart’s leads; “Catherine Wheel” and “Don’t Delay Heaven” are the emotional center.
🌈 “Enough,” “Human Kindness” and closer “Oceans of Time” bring it home in eight tracks flat — no filler, no runtime padding, no apologies.
Certified great.