Posts Tagged ‘Mackenzie Scott’

TORRES – ” Live In Berlin “

Posted: July 6, 2020 in ALBUMS, MUSIC
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This is a recording of the last show I played with my band before the world slowed down. I hope that it brings joy and a little solace where people need it most. Torres’ Live in Berlin, recorded at Kantine am Berghain on March 11th, 2020, is available now .

From Mackenzie Scott of TORRES: “This is a recording of the last show I played with my band before the world slowed down. I hope that it brings joy and a little solace where people need it most. Lots of love and thanks to my bandmates for taking the ride with me and to every fan who’s made live music possible.”

Lots of love and thanks to my bandmates, Erin Manning, J.R. Bohannon, and Bryan Bisordi, for taking the ride with me, for their fire performances, and to Brian Esselbrugge for engineering and recording this set! . And thanks especially to every fan who has made live music possible. This is such an intimate concert recording that it feels like Torres is singing directly to me. Torres sings her heart out, perhaps knowing that this would be her last show for a while.

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All my love,
Mackenzie

The Band:
Bryan Bisordi: drums
Erin Manning: Moog, synthesizers, vocal harmonies
J.R. Bohannon: pedal steel, guitar
Mackenzie Scott: vocals + guitar

Released July 3rd, 2020

TORRES – ” Wandering Star ” (Portishead Cover)

Posted: July 4, 2020 in MUSIC
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Torres has shared a new cover of Portishead track– hear her bewitching version of ‘Wandering Star’ .

The artist – real name Mackenzie Scott – is the latest musician to share a new cover while millions across the world self-isolate due to coronavirus.

The cover was recorded in London in 2017, with Scott calling the Bristol trio “one of my favourite bands in the world”. It was originally available only on Bandcamp (the website gave 100 percent of revenue to artists last Friday as a gesture of support), but is now available on YouTube too

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Released March 20th, 2020

TORRES – ” A Good Scare “

Posted: June 17, 2020 in MUSIC
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We last heard from Torres, the musical moniker of Mackenzie Scott, back in 2017 around the release of her sublime third album, Three Futures. That album was in many ways an exploration of physicality, a lusty collection in contrast to the more cerebral tones of her break-out record, Sprinter. Some two years later, after finding a new home on Merge Records, Torres is set to make her next artistic statement with the January release of her fourth album, Silver Tongue, which was previewed this week in the shape of new single, Good Scare.

If Torres’ music up until now has existed largely inside Mackenzie, whether that be body or brain, perhaps Silver Tongue is a step into the wider world of connections, desires and other people. Take Good Scare, this is a track about embracing the fears, and resultant bravery, that come with infatuation, as Torres explains, using a caving analogy, the superman crawl: “when certain passages are too narrow, a person has to hold one arm against the body and the other above the head, all while trying to crawl forward. When you fall in love with someone, it’s scary like the Superman’s crawl, but you have no choice but to keep moving forward even though you have no idea what’s ahead of you”.

Good Scare is Silver Tongue’s opening track, a sort of leap into the unknown, chasing your dreams, without any sort of back-up plan in place, “you might give me a good scare for a minute there, but I’ll say “Well, I’ve seen that look from you before”, when you start eyeing all the exits”. Musically too, this is a fine return; the dense primal pound of drums rattles around the headphones, contrasted with bright guitars, warm electronic tones and Mackenzie’s prominent, gently distorted vocal, as arrestingly wonderful as ever. A welcome return from one of the world’s most fascinating musical voices, Torres might just be the sound of 2020.

Performed by
Mackenzie Scott: vocals, guitar, synths, drum machines
Erin Manning: Moog, synths
J.R. Bohannon: pedal steel
Bryan Bisordi: drums

“Silver Tongue” is out January 21st via Merge Records. 

TORRES – ” Too Big for the Glory Hole “

Posted: June 13, 2020 in MUSIC
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In her new video for the cryptically titled “Too Big for the Glory Hole,” Mackenzie Scott of TORRES captures domestic solitude in her now-iconic cowboy boots. But Scott and the world seem light-years away from the “Dressing America” video, set in that same home. The sparse keys and solemn delivery of lines such as “Must be that God can take a joke / To make the one I like best the one I fear most” push “Too Big for the Glory Hole” into near-hymn territory. I wrote this song when I was living alone in the East Village, before I moved in with my girlfriend. I was lonely. It was recorded in Brooklyn last fall, but Jenna made this accompanying video on her iPhone in quarantine.

The song, partially influenced by Florine Stettheimer’s painting The Cathedrals of Wall Street, was recorded during the Silver Tongue sessions and featured on a free 7-inch included with the album’s Peak Vinyl edition. It’s available today on all streaming platforms.

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Released June 3rd, 2020, The single, “Too Big for the Glory Hole,” is out now on Merge Records.

TORRES – ” Wandering Star ” (Portishead Cover)

Posted: March 29, 2020 in MUSIC
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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.

TORRES – ” Dressing America “

Posted: January 18, 2020 in ALBUMS, MUSIC
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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.

TORRES – ” Helen In The Woods “

Posted: November 13, 2017 in MUSIC
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“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 4AD Records (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.

TORRES – ” Three Futures ” Best Albums Of 2017

Posted: October 1, 2017 in ALBUMS, MUSIC
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TORRES - Three Futures

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.

Three Futures

TORRES – ” Three Futures “

Posted: July 14, 2017 in ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Torres - Three Futures

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 – ” Skim “

Posted: June 8, 2017 in MUSIC
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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.

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‘Skim’ by TORRES. Out now on 4AD Records

thanks to thisisthatsong,

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