Torres
Sprinter (Partisan)
Mackenzie Scott, aka Torres, has a voice like a hungry tigress: she wails, she howls, she snarls, and sometimes, she purrs. It is this feral, animalistic approach to the confessional singer-songwriter genre that has drawn up so many comparisons to PJ Harvey, the savage queen of vicious melody.
On her sophomore record, comparisons are not likely to wane: she employed longtime Harvey collaborator Rob Ellis to produce Sprinter, who in turn brought Portishead's Adrian Utley to add a little atmosphere. This triad of talent shines brightest on tracks like "Cowboy Guilt", in which Scott explores her southern conservative roots over a fuzzed-out, twinkling canvas, or the brooding "Son, You Are No Island", where spacey synthesizers hold up lyrics like, "Son you're not a man yet / you're just a firstborn feeling left behind."
Scott is only 24 years old, yet she sounds as though she has lived one thousand lives. While the occasional moment of pent-up teen angst surfaces, she is in complete control of her confession: an outsider embracing the darkness on the edge of town.
Rating: ★★★★
