Mackenzie Scott, the singer-songwriter who performs under the pseudonym of Torres, has released a new cover of Portishead song ‘Wandering Star’. The Brooklyn-based musician, who is in the middle of a tour which has her scheduled to perform in Zurich, France, Italy and more, recently encountered a major financial struggle in order to get emergency flights back to America.
Now, while self-isolating like millions of people around the world, Scott has released a cover of the Portishead classic to help ease the struggle in quarantine. Given the recent success of Bandcamp’s campaign to help struggling artists at the time of the coronavirus campaign, Torres has made her ‘Wandering Star’ cover available to buy through her account on the streaming platform. It follows her January album Silver Tongue.
This summer, Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott) announced that she was readying an album with her new label, Merge Records, after being dropped by 4AD in 2018 for “not being commercially successful enough.
The return of Torres, the project of New York-based musician Mackenzie Scott, might just be one of the most exciting events of the musical year. While never quite hitting that break through moment, Torres is a songwriter we’ve always loved, and with each new single she shares, her upcoming album, “Silver Tongue”, just seems to get all the more exciting. Possibly the best to date came this week in the shape of the sublime, Dressing America.
“Dressing America” is a track that seems to gently unfurl itself, as the initial strum of muted guitar gradually blossoms, into a Bowie-like slice of hypnotic New Wave glamour, resplendent with motorik rhythms and Mackenzie’s strikingly commanding vocal delivery. Lyrically, it seems to set Mackenzie as a wannabe romantic-hero, a macho cowboy, who might not understand the subtleties of the human heart, yet is ready and waiting to go rescue a damsel in distress, “you’re always telling’ me I don’t know who you are, come on, woman, I tend to sleep with my boots on should I need to gallop over dark waters to you on short notice”.
From the singles delivered, Silver Tongue already feels like Torres’ most immediate release to date, a study of infatuation, lust and human connections, that might just end up being her break-out moment.
Along with the Silver Tongue album announcement, Scott released the lead single, LP opener “Good Scare.” Like the material on Three Futures, “Good Scare” melds oceanic guitar, percussion and synth, offering a lush and layered complement to Scott’s gravelly lows and tender falsetto. The new track takes up the stops and starts of a budding romance, when the prospect of love feels both terrifying and predestined.
Silver Tongue is out January 31st via Merge Records.
“Helen in the Woods,” is the third single off her third album Three Futures,
“I forgot. I totally forgot,” Mackenzie Scott said, laughing and adding, “My dad hates it.” Mackenzie Scott, the Brooklyn-based, Georgia-raised musician who records as Torres, wrote most of Three Futures, which is also her debut on 4ADRecords (the label of Grimes, The National, Deerhunter, and Daughter), in one sustained period after the release of her critically adored sophomore record Sprinter. But the furious, delirious “Helen in the Woods,” which Scott, now 27, wrote approximately five years ago while still in college.
‘Helen In The Woods’ by TORRES. ‘Three Futures‘ is out now.
One of the year’s most unusual and invigorating concept albums comes from the Georgia-raised songwriter Mackenzie Scott. “Three Futures”, Scott’s third album under the name TORRES, explores a primitive yet radical subject for songwriting: embracing one’s own human body “as a mechanism of joy.” These new songs are vivid, sensual vignettes that confront lust (“Righteous Woman”), obsession (“Helen in the Woods”) and joy (“Bad Baby Pie”) before culminating with the mantra-like epic “To Be Given a Body.” Musically, the record is a sharp departure from Scott’s prior work
Brooklyn based songwriter Mackenzie Scott brings us her third album as Torres, having gained acclaim and attention since her debut in 2013. ‘Three Futures’ is an immediate and mature set of songs about femininity, gender and power. Mackenzie’s vocal breadth, especially in her range and movements from rough to smooth, prove her to be on a par with vocalists such as St. Vincent. Her guitar riffs and solos quirkily stagger over industrial and metronomic programmed beats, giving a sometimes-dizzying feeling of rhythmic push and pull. It’s a very well-formed and considered album .
In describing the album, Scott says it “is entirely about using the body that each of us has been given as a mechanism of joy”. The 10 original tracks on Three Futures embrace ecstasy, desire and indulgence rather than self-denial, and exude this idea via immersive music. Mechanized grooves are placed at the forefront, providing a framework for perforated electro-pop static, harsh gothic / industrial textures, and insistent Krautrock motifs.
For Three Futures, Scott reconnected with producer Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey), who worked on TORRES’ last album Sprinter, to record in Stockport and Dorset, England. David Tolomei (Beach House, Future Islands) mixed the album.
TORRES is the creative alter-ego of Brooklyn-based Mackenzie Scott. In describing the album, Scott says it “is entirely about using the body that each of us has been given as a mechanism of joy”. The 10 original tracks on Three Futures embrace ecstasy, desire and indulgence rather than self-denial, and exude this idea via immersive music. Mechanized grooves are placed at the forefront, providing a framework for perforated electro-pop static, harsh gothic / industrial textures, and insistent Krautrock motifs.
It was only a few weeks ago when we were speculating about when we might receive an album shaped gift from Torres aka Mackenzie Scott the Brooklyn-based artist, has detailed the release of that record, To be titled “Three Futures” .
Three Futures the first single is a track that slowly reveals itself on repeated listens, such is the complexity of the ever shifting instrumental backing. Fluttering beats hold the track together, as heavily effected guitars, pulses of thrillingly gloomy synths and Mackenzie’s powerful vocal add the perfect dose of melodic sweetness. There’s something in the way the lines are delivered that takes seemingly indecipherable lyrics and gives them an emotional gravitas; a line like, “I hope that’s what you’ll remember, not how I left, but how I entered”, seeming to possess some deep secret beyond any obvious interpretation. Describing the inspiration behind the album, Mackenzie has suggested it, “is entirely about using the body that each of us has been given as a mechanism of joy”.
‘Three Futures’ is the title track from TORRES’ new album, which is released 29th September on 4AD Records
Torres is the stage name for indie rock musician Mackenzie Scott. She’s originally from somewhere in rural Georgia, and she got her start in Nashville. Her 2013 debut Torres was a huge record and her sophomore release Sprinter was also well received . Torres released a single and accompanying video yesterday via the excellent label 4AD Records. She had signed with 4AD recently, there apparently is a new album on the horizon.
While the first record was more “indie folk” than rock and the second record was more “indie rock” than folk, it sounds like this might be something different entirely. It’s just one song, but this sounds like a new direction for her. This song reminds me quite a bit of St. Vincent’s marvelous 2011 album Strange Mercy. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that Annie Clark played guitar on this. If she didn’t, Torres is taking a page straight out of her book and a line from her page.
This video has some strange direction, but it’s brilliant. It’s mysterious and sexy and dark and confusing.
The video was directed by Ashley Connor, who has directed lots of videos for Angel Olsen, as well as a few for Jenny Lewis, Jenny Hval, Julianna Barwick, and others. She also did the creepy/sexy/magnificent video for “Your Best American Girl” by Mitski. Just as she did with “Your Best American Girl”, Connor wants us to feel like creepy, filthy voyeurs with “Skim”. She also wants us to be confused. About a lot of things. No matter what, it’s a wonderfully shot video that has a few surprises in it. Also, as an added bonus, those scenes in the shower are also a subtle echo of some of the press photos from the first album. I like that.
Torres, the stage name of Maicon born song-writer Mackenzie Scott, first came to the world’s attention back in 2012 when, whilst still a student, she wrote and independently released her self-titled debut album. As impressive as that record was, surely even Partisan Records, who snapped her up on the back of it, must have been quietly delighted with their decision when they first heard her latest record, Sprinter.
It wasn’t so much a step up in Mackenzie’s song-craft, as a giant leap. A stunningly produced record, it was made in Portishead’s Adrian Utley’s studio in Bristol and featured PJ Harvey collaborators Robert Ellis and Ian Oliver, but there was no doubt who the star was, this record was all about Mackenzie. The voice: capable of producing the raw power of Anna Calvi, or the emotive depth of Sharon Van Etten. The songs; from the experimental pop of Cowboy Guilt, to the squalling dark-electronics of Son You Are No Island, and the blast of noise that was Strange Hellos. This was a spectacularly good record, that questioned topics from religion, to unrequited love, and adoption, all delivered with an ambitious musical pallet and a lyrical light-touch. Put simply, it was just a fantastic record.
Not that she is striving for it, but Torres (aka Mackenzie Scott) could be the female incarnation of Kurt Cobain. Sure, she has the lanky physique of the grunge god and her stringy blond hair doesn’t hurt either. And don’t forget about her love for Fender’s other guitars. But the real similarities lie in the Brooklyn-based singer-guitarist’s ability to create the most dramatic and polar-opposite of dynamics. One second she’s whispering into the mic and the next she’s yowling loud enough to carry across county lines. In her dynamically rich second album Torres, you can hear influences ranging from Funkadelic to the aforementioned Nirvana, and you can even hear the Queen of Pop in Scott’s more subdued, airy singing. I usually play with a more elaborate rig, but for SXSW I only brought a few pedals and carried them around in my backpack all week. I wanted to keep setup time to a minimum and reduce the weight of my gear as much as possible, as I’m usually carrying it all on my back from venue to venue during SXSW.”
http://KEXP.ORG presents TORRES performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded May 16, 2015.
in Torres’s second album Sprinter feels like dreaming in a state of moderate anxiety, with guitar effects and reverberating synths whirling around lyrics that weave scraps of emotion together with the kind of suggestive references—to Polish swimmer Beata Kamínska, to Poseidon, to a Christian God and a profane pastor—that might crop up in states of estranged reverie. Scott’s vocal instrument ranges from self-consciously fragile, to a menacing growl.
Songs:
A Proper Polish Welcome
New Skin
Sprinter
Cowboy Guilt
Mackenzie Scott’s quiet early music gave hints that she could get loud, but I still wasn’t prepared for the ferocity of her new work. Recording as Torres, she spends her new album “Sprinter” unleashing as-yet-unheard intensity and power, all while performing with incredible prowess.
Sprinter is the album that taught me to love Torres’ music: It channels clear influences like Patti Smith and PJ Harvey, while still hinting at further growth. (She’s only 24.)
Her band is extraordinary, too. Guitarist Cameron Kapoor provides a perfect level of controlled noise under Scott’s alternately melodic and aggressive playing, while Erin Manning contributes haunting harmonies and drummer Dominic Cipolla provides spacious punctuation. All of which made for a perfect storm, right in NPR’s offices.
Set List
“New Skin” 00:00
“A Proper Polish Welcome” 05:50
“The Harshest Light” 11:40
Well, I'm dyslexic so writing about something I love: Music, might help but it's most likely just full of mistakes. That title is also lyrics from The Drones song called I Don't Want To Change. Oh, my name is William and thanks for having a look.
