TORRES knows the darkness. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter otherwise known as Mackenzie Scott waits until anything-an idea, an emotion, a memory-gnaws at her, tearing at her fingers and throat until she releases it in song. Her husky voice strains against its human biological constraints like a wild-eyed horse, whispering desperately “Don’t give up on me just yet” on one end and yowling about jealousy with unnerving intensity on the other. Following her self-titled debut in 2013, TORRES pushes herself to even noisier extremes on Sprinter, a punishing self-examination of epic spiritual and musical proportions.
Scott escaped the confines of her churning mind in order to find herself by recording Sprinter in the market town of Bridport in Dorset, England; and then at the Bristol studio of Portishead’s Adrian Utley. With his guitar riffs and synthesizers lingering in the background like a lowland mist and PJ Harvey’s Robert Ellis and Ian Olliver on rhythm-the two fortuitously reuniting 23 years after the release of Dry, and in Scott’s 23rd year of living-she crafted a “space cowboy” record. “That’s as simply as I can say it,” says Scott, who cites inspirations as diverse as Funkadelic and Nirvana, Ray Bradbury and Joan Didion. “I wanted something that very clearly stemmed from my Southern conservative roots but that sounded futuristic and space-y at the same time.”
Catch her live and hear cuts from the new record here:
Tue-Mar-17 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk – SXSW Official Showcase
Wed-Mar-18 – Austin, TX – Central Presbyterian Church – SXSW Official Showcase
Wed-Mar-18 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk – SXSW Pitchfork Day Party
Thu-Mar-19 – Austin, TX – Cheer Up Charlie’s – SXSW AV Club Day Party
Fri-Mar-20 – Austin, TX – Bar 96 – SXSW Culture Collide, Dr. Martens Party
Sat-Mar-21 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn – SXSW The Beehive Day Party
Sat-Mar-21 – Austin, TX – Central Presbyterian Church – SXSW Official Showcase
Mon-May-04 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom
Wed-May-06 – Nashville, TN – The Stone Fox
Fri-May-08 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
Sat-May-09 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk
Mon-May-11 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock Live
Tue-May-12 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
Wed-May-13 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
Fri-May-15 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
Sat-May-16 – Seattle, WA – Barboza
Sun-May-17 – Vancouver, BC – Electric Owl
Wed-May-20 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
Thu-May-21 – Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle
Fri-May-22 – Detroit, MI – UFO Factory
Sat-May-23 – Toronto, ON – The Garrison
Wed-May-27 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right
Thu-Jun-25 – Allston, MA – Great Scott
Fri-Jun-26 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
Sat-Jun-27 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
Sun-Jun-28 – Washington, DC – DC9
Tue-Jun-30 – Durham, NC – The Pinhook
Wed-Jul-01 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
Thu-Jul-02 – Chattanooga, TN – Rhythm & Brews
5/4 – supporting Jenny Lewis 5/6-5/17 & 5/21-5/27  Aero Flynn supporting