Mackenzie Scott, the singer/songwriter who performs and creates as TORRES has gone blonde. Platinum. Scott is a Nashville native whose searing style and smoldering voice quickly catapulted her to upper echelon of the indie stratosphere ever since her self-titled 2013 debut, and it’s been nothing but a quick rise for her since then.
Her follow-up sophomore album, 2015’s Sprinter, became a year-defining record, equal parts tenderness and ferocity, with silvery guitar, little pockets of insurmountable noise, and lyrics that cut to the quick. It put Scott on a whole new level; she knew it, her audience knew it, and it turns out, indie giant 4AD records knew it too. So, it makes sense that she’d feel like flipping her hair from burnished brunette to a sleek white-blonde — this is a brand new phase for her.
Along with the announcement that she’ll join the 4AD family, Scott has also shared a new Torres video and song, the electrifying “Skim,” which was directed by Ashley Connor, a director who has helmed several other powerful, female-first videso, like Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl,” Angel Olsen’s “Shut Up Kiss Me,” and “Intern,” and Jenny Hval’s “That Battle Is Over,” among many others.
Unsurprisingly, the clip depicts Scott grappling with human touch, intimacy, and loneliness, all in the setting of a neon-lit ’70s mansions. It’s weird and exciting, and most of all, a statement from an artist who doesn’t flinch away from her own strange impulses. Watch it above, and catch Torres out on on extended tour this year, dates below.
06/24 –- Bialystok, PL @ Halfway Festival
07/17 — Los Angeles, CA @ School Night @ Bardot
07/21 -– San Francisco, CA @ Popscene @ Ricksaw
07/23 -– Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
08/19 -– Omaha, NE @ Maha Festival
09/28 –- Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle
09/29 –- Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
09/30 –- Boston, MA @ Sinclair
10/01 –- Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
10/03 -– Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
10/05 -– Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
10/06 –- Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10/09 -– Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
10/11 -– Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
10/17 –- San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
10/20 –- Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10/21 –- Denver CO @ Larimer Lounge
10/23 -– St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
10/24 -– Nashville, TN @ High Watt
10/25 -– Columbus, OH @ The Basement
10/27 -– Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
11/04 –- Reykjavik, IS @ @ Iceland Airwaves
11/07 –- Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
11/08 –- London, UK @ Tufnell Park Dome
11/09 –- Brighton, UK @ The Haunt
11/10 –- Paris, FR @ Le Point Ephemere
11/11 –- Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
11/13 -– Cologne, DE @ Gebaude 9
11/14 –- Hamburg, DE @ Waagenbau
11/15 –- Berlin, DE @ Kantine a Berghain
11/16 –- Munich, DE @ Ampere
11/18 — Brusels, BE @ Botanique Rotonde
