Emma Ruth Rundle readies These Killing Times with ‘Powerless’

Emma Ruth Rundle announces These Killing Times for September 18 via Errant Child, releasing the new single “Powerless” and framing the album as a full-band return built with community—and against the demoralizing churn of global headlines.

On the day Emma Ruth Rundle drops “Powerless,” it feels less like a preview and more like a stance. The single—described as raging and hypnotic—lands with a clear message: she’s readying a new record, These Killing Times, due September 18 via her own imprint Errant Child.

Rundle’s last full-length, 2021’s Engine of Hell, moved with a vulnerable, stripped-back sound. This time. she’s stepping back into a full-band arrangement. and the collaborators around her read like a collective drawn from the margins of rock and beyond. The album brings together drummer Jess Gowrie (Chelsea Wolfe, Mrs. Piss). longtime collaborator Troy Zeigler. Patrick Shiroishi. Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos). Gina Gleason (Baroness). Marissa Nadler. Lukas Frank (Storefront Church). and Amelia Baker (Cinder Well). Recording was handled by Sonny Diperri.

“I wanted to feel fortified by friendships and to be in community with other musicians – to make something that pushed back against the isolation,” Rundle reflected, framing These Killing Times as something made in contact, not in isolation.

That sense of pressure—how it crowds in from the outside and then settles in the body—comes through sharply in how she explains “Powerless.” She says the song was initially titled “Noam Chomsky is Dead to Me. ” pointing to the way Chomsky’s relationship to Epstein and the billionaire class was being exposed. For Rundle. it was “just another massively disappointing headline. ” arriving in a moment when she’s been overwhelmed by “an onslaught of news and headlines” that feel endlessly demoralizing and dehumanizing.

“These Killing Times – like most of the songs on These Killing Times – is a reaction to the horrors we are seeing laid bare on a daily basis. ” she continues. In her words. the list runs from “climate collapse to genocide” and the “miscarriage of justice” to “the collapse of empire. ” “the demise of democracy. ” “the erosion of women’s rights and LGBTQIA+ rights and black rights. ” and efforts “to dehumanize immigrants and people of color.” She also cites “the concentration camps in the USA. ” adding. “the list is so long I don’t think I can accurately cover it all here.”.

Then she draws the line between naming and survival. “With ‘Powerless’ – I invoke the hammer; both to destroy and to build – something better,” Rundle says. She wants listeners to feel they’re not alone—“not insane”—and she describes the song as a way of naming what’s been causing her “mental. emotional and spiritual anguish.” She points to the bridge of “Powerless” as the place where that naming turns into fortification: “Sometimes singing – especially repeating phases – can work to fortify one’s self. ” she says. “I refuse to let my agency and resolve become corrupted or diluted by the powers that be and I want others to feel empowered too.”.

The official video for “Powerless” is embedded for viewers. and the album itself arrives with cover artwork and a tracklist that outlines the record’s breadth. These Killing Times includes: 1. Powerless 2. God’s Picture 3. Anvil 4. Catherine Wheel 5. Don’t Delay Heaven 6. Enough 7. Human Kindness 8. Oceans of Time.

Emma Ruth Rundle These Killing Times Errant Child Powerless new album single Jess Gowrie Troy Zeigler Nick Reinhart Gina Gleason Marissa Nadler Lukas Frank Amelia Baker Sonny Diperri alternative rock music news