Emma Ruth Rundle – “Imbolc Dawn Atop Ynys Wydryn. Ice Melts As The First Resplendent Rays Of Spring Pour Over The Horizon”

Emma Ruth Rundle has just been churning out music recently. In late 2020, she teamed with Thou for the great May Our Chambers Be Full. She returned late last year with her next solo album, Engine Of Hell, and just last month she released an EP called Orpheus Looking Back that corralled a few remaining tracks from those sessions. Today, she’s back with the announcement of EG2: Dowsing Voice, the sequel to her 2011 instrumental album Electric Guitar One.

Actually completed before she began Engine Of Hell, EG2 is a different premise than Electric Guitar One as well as Rundle’s usual solo outings. As you might be able to tell from all the Lord Of The Rings-esque names in the tracklist below, Dowsing Voice was inspired by time Rundle spent on the coast of Wales, digging into ancient myths and communing with the nature around her. It’s all improvised music, with a specific focus on vocals — though there are no lyrics, and many of the vocals are unconventional. The album is out in May, and it’ll only be available for download on Bandcamp and on vinyl otherwise.

Along with the announcement, Rundle has shared a new song called “Imbolc Dawn Atop Ynys Wydryn. Ice Melts As The First Resplendent Rays of Spring Pour Over The Horizon.” As the whole nature of the project suggests, this is Rundle at her most abstract and arty, and “Imbolc…” is a ghostly, haunting track — like Rundle channeling lost spirits. Check it out below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Intro To The Underpool: The Path, The Gate, The Field, The Well”
02 “Keening Into Ffynnon Llanllawer”
03 “In The Cave Of The Cailleach’s Death-Birth”
04 “Gathering Around Pair Dadeni”
05 “Brigid Wakes To Find Her Voice Anew. The Little Flowers And Birds Show Themselves”
06 “Imbolc Dawn Atop Ynys Wydryn. Ice Melts As The First Resplendent Rays of Spring Pour Over The Horizon.”
07 “The Tempest On Trefasser”
08 “Don Danann Dana Danu Ana”
09 “Standing Stones Singing / Cellphone Towers Ringing Up To The Darkening Sky”
10 “In Sadness For Our Dying World (Here Come The Christians)”

EG2: Dowsing Voice is out 5/13 via Sargent House. Pre-order it here.