Emma Ruth Rundle : "On Dark Horses"

I try not review albums on days I am really suicidal. Normally when I am in that state I have lost interest in all things...even music. This time I was more anchored by certain things, but when I tried to listen to this album it did not grab me like " Marked For Death". It's not as dark and it's more of a straight up rock album. There are some surreal parts even in the trippy section of the opener. At times it makes me think of Jimi Hendrix playing country music. In other words Dave Navarro. There is a lose jazzy jam quality. The vocals to "Control" are a little moodier. I am open to her expanding her sound as I certainly didn't want her just to re-hash "Marked For Death". The dreamy swirl is still a thing even when she gets louder. So I like the second song better than the first which at least means this album is heading in the right direction.

That western undertone I detected is brought to the spot light on the title track. This is closer to "Marked for Death" so of course I like that though it's her ripping off herself. There is some roughly mixed over driven grunge flavored guitar on this one. Id we are using the totality of Nirvana to define grunge then this album is more grunge than indie rock so far. The moody western thing continues , but with a more introspective mood for "Races". I am glad I went back a re-visited this album in a saner state of mind. The drums give a little more pound to the dreamy desert that is "Dead Set Eyes". The vocals coast over the guitar really well. .The guitar solos on this album are really well done , they are more of texture thing more than any shredding.

It's cool to hear the male vocals layered around her's on " Light Song" , it has a more ominous feel to it. There are more sonic colors on this album than "Marked For Death". It's really well produced and they obtained some incredible guitar tones. "Apathy on the Indiana Border" also recalls some of the more longing moods she captured on "Marked For Death". Though they are slightly co-dependent I do like the lyrics to this song. There is a sleepy quality to "You Don't Have to Cry". The guitar is wandering in one direction and her vocals are going in the other. When it gets to the chorus it has more of a country feel. I'll go ahead and round this album up to a 10 and see how it grows on me.