Note: In recognition of the season, Sound Dissection continues to focus on artists who embrace a darker timbre.

Throughout their career, Emma Ruth Rundle has continuously challenged convention through their unorthodox songwriting and performance style. This remained vividly true during their Oct. 17 performance at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Opening for the loud and psychedelic heavy rock band All Them Witches on their 21 Shows in 21 Days tour, Rundle was not accompanied by supporting musicians or a robust backline. Instead, the artist took to the stage alone with a Spanish nylon-string guitar, an approach the artist has sustained for the past half-decade.

Alone at the beachside venue, Rundle, who is bassed in Portland, Oregon, proved again that they can command an audience without the support of a full band.

The result is an intimate yet deeply moving and immersive listening experience. It is a glimpse into the core of Rundle’s artistic process and an opportunity to learn about the expressive capabilities of the instrument and voice.

Some of Rundle’s key performances in this mode include a 2022 pin-drop-silent set at Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands and a haunting 2025 Fire in the Mountains performance hosted by the Blackfeet Nation.

During this stripped-back era, Rundle has taken the time to develop their stage presence, build on the foundational strengths of their voice and continue to hone their abilities as a guitarist.

Now, a new chapter is about to begin as this long-running stretch as a solo performer is expected to end next month. Rundle is scheduled to embark on a headlining tour with a full band to support their new album, These Killing Times. Released in September on Rundle’s own Errant Child imprint, the album is a poignant portrait of the contemporary political climate and emotional zeitgeist. Its deeply current subject matter and embedded call to action make this an apt moment for Rundle to return with the added strength of a backing band.

Building on this prolonged stretch of solo performances, the artist brings an added layer of precision to the new recording, capturing a plethora of dynamic subtleties.

Despite the expanded instrumentation, Rundle offers the same deeply intimate vocal performance heard during their solo live sets on These Killing Times. This marks a significant change from Rundle’s previous full-ensemble recordings, on which the singer has often used the power of their own voice to push through the mix.

This newfound strength is most clearly heard on “Enough,” the album’s keystone track, which expresses a deep desire to upend those who most embody humanity’s greed, and on the opening track, “Powerless,” during which Rundle makes clear a desire to break the world as it exists today and build a new, better way of life.

In both of these recordings, invigorated by the added strength of a backing ensemble, Rundle conveys an artistic power that encourages listeners to take action and bring about the change envisioned throughout These Killing Times.

With the return to full-band collaboration and the addition of new sonic colors, including jazz and avant-garde saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi on the new album, Rundle reminds listeners of their keen ability to craft moving art through collaboration. It is a strength that has been underutilized in recent years, despite outstanding past partnerships with Thou, Chelsea Wolfe and Mizmor.

This reinvigorated desire for collaboration is clear in the liner notes for These Killing Times, which list a revolving cast of musicians who perform across the album’s tracks, including longtime collaborator Troy Zeigler, violinist Camille Getz, cellist Jason Adams, Amelia Baker of Cinderwell and Gina Gleason of Baroness, among others.

As Rundle’s music most often occupies a space far from conventional songwriting and musicianship, the artist’s stripped-back approach, witnessed at The Stone Pony, has given the audience time to absorb the core intricacies of the artist’s existing repertoire and gain a glimpse of their growth as an artist.

Instead of being engrossed in a blanket of crunchy guitar distortion and a wall of slow, steady guitar riffs, this listener was met with the subtle intricacies of Rundle’s guitar work.

The performance at The Stone Pony offered a lesson in how a single note can hold more attention than a chord and a master class in how a note from the warm-toned nylon-string guitar can be as heavy and effective as the deep baritone guitars Rundle experimented with earlier in their career.

Without a doubt, the added attention to detail and expert musicianship fueling this next chapter are products of Rundle’s time onstage alone. This experience has enabled Rundle to hone their dynamic range and create far-reaching textures using minimal instrumentation.

With this added experience and knowledge accrued over the course of the past half-decade, anticipation for Rundle’s return to a full ensemble continues to build as the winter tour approaches.

With a renewed command of restraint and an expanded palette for collaboration, Rundle is poised to bring a compelling new dimension to their art.