A collaboration between Louisiana drone rock titans Thou and Californian rock songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle is not something we could have expected, but it’s a combination that we’re excited to hear. The two acts have announced they’ll be putting out a collaborative album on October 30 called May Our Chambers Be Full.
The first taste of the combination is “Ancestral Recall”, which Thou’s Andy Gibbs calls “an easy marriage of our styles that was truly enhanced by everyone’s input during the arrangement process.” Rundle adds “it was hard for me to keep up and I felt like I was doing an obstacle course (in the best way). Because of the differences in our guitar tunings, it was difficult for me to match the rest exactly and I ended up coming with a single note passage to play over the most difficult section. For me this was a good example of the collaboration and that I was able to express my style despite my limitations in a way that added to Andy’s riff.“
Like all good and unexpected collaborations, “Ancestral Recall” finds both parties bringing their own styles to the mix and finding a fertile middle ground in between. Rundle’s already used her voice to magnificent effect over towering riffs in her own music, so placing them atop the monoliths of sound that Thou provide is something she does with cavalier brilliance. Segueing into the more Thou-y part of “Ancestral Recall” finds Rundle’s guitar work weaving its way around the pillars of sound while she and Bryan Funck trade screams. Even as they peel back in volume the potential for intensity looms – and soon comes thundering back in.
The collaborative album between Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle is out on October 30 through Sacred Bones – you can get the scoop on Bandcamp.
You can find Emma Ruth Rundle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
