(Alright no joke, this track still gives me CHILLS)
This album starts out with “Tongue Slap Your Brains Out”, and right off the bat, we’re dealing with a much more intense sound for TORRES. Those opening moments were seriously filled with a whole lot of tension, but that’s all due to her incorporation of electronic elements. It adds a certain heaviness and sleekness to Mackenzie’s music. Her vocals are seriously haunting on this one, and it really makes “Tongue Slap Your Brains Out” stand out. Mackenzie is one hell of a performer, and in general her music almost always has such a lasting impression well after her songs are over. And here is no different, from her very cryptic lyrics to her very patient delivery. To be honest, I love this track as an intro. This get’s rid of a lot of the problems I have with some of Mackenzie’s early recordings, with just how bare some of the instrumentals were. “Tongue Slap Your Brains Out” is really well done, and it’s very vast sounding, easily being one of the biggest atmosphere’s Mackenzie has ever touched. Then we have “Skim”. Now, the electronics continue to be a seriously beefy element to TORRES’s music, which is something I really wasn’t expecting to hear this much of. But it gives this track such a creeping feeling, one that you really don’t know whats going to happen next. It’s just such a great sound for TORRES, and it certainly doesn’t take anything away from Mackenzie’s performance either. Just the opposite, the performance here is absolutely stunning and commanding. To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I heard her so up front in her performances. Now, this is certainly much more experimental than some of her early material which incorporated elements of everything from Folk to Post Grunge. “Skim” is far from that, and is one hell of a slow burner. But it’s personal, and it’s strangely heartfelt in TORRES’s own way. And while no, instrumentals this isn’t the most exciting and wild thing in the world, it’s a really solid TORRES track. “Three Futures’ is up next, however, and to an extent, this track is everything I was worried about happening. So far, this album has been pretty abstract, and so is this one. But overall this one just comes off sloppy. The very winding, unnerving guitars don’t compliment Mackenzie at all. Plus, I feel like it just takes so damn long to get going. Mackenzie’s performance here really isn’t as commanding or as stunning on this one either sadly. “Three Futures” certainly has a lot of potential. But it’s not nearly as capitalized on as I would have liked. I think lyrically, it’s very personal and almost steamy. So yea, this one has plenty of great elements, but none of them stick with me. It just reminds me way too much of less interesting moments from TORRES’s early work. Then we have “Righteous Woman”, which instrumentally isn’t too mind-blowing or wild. But instantly, I’m so much more into Mackenzie’s much more wild and charismatic performance. But like I Said, I do wish instrumentally there was a little more going on here. Which eventually, we do see with the appearance of some very bluesy guitars. But overall I need more, and I’m not trying to sound greedy. But I feel like more instrumentals would intensify her performances, as they do later on in the album, but we’ll get to that. “Righteous Woman” is a solid tune, mostly because Mackenzie is such a great performer. Her one-liners are intense and memorable. And while it’s nothing too jaw-dropping, it’s Mackenzie doing what she’s done best for years.
By the time we get to “Greener Stretch,” I’m honestly shocked with just how much of the instrumentals here have gone completely electronic. I mean, this one is absolutely a whole lot more compelling with the industrial drums and jolly synths. So as far as that goes, this one is just fine. But Mackenzie’s very dreary, slow, and somber performance here is just so boring. And she’s done slow tunes that I’ve adored in the past. But “Greener Stretch” just falls flat, most because Mackenzie just sounds so lifeless. Thankfully, the slightly more interesting instrumentals make this passable. But for me, “Helen In The Woods” is the one track that sells this album. This is by far the most intense and ridiculous track I’ve ever heard Mackenzie touch, and it’s good. Not only are these the most chaotic instrumentals she’s ever come close to, she sounds absolutely wild in her performance. Her shrieks are brilliant, her imagery is intense, and this just works on so many levels. I would love to hear her just go absolutely nuts like this more often. “Helen In The Woods” is less than 3 minutes, but as a single, it sort of blew my mind. Now, at first, I felt like the beat on “Bad Baby Pie” was a little obnoxious for my liking. But it’s grown on me. And I do have to commend TORRES for going for a sound that’s just so different. I actually enjoy a whole lot of this track, from the very off-kilter beat to Mackenzie’s very sexualized performance, which actually comes off really well. But still, there’s going to be plenty that really isn't that into this. All of the elements to this one are just fine, but the music of TORRES is often so sluggish and really needs to be looked at in the grand scheme of things. But like I said, this one works for me, and I do like Mackenzie’s very sultry performance quite a bit. Then we have tracks like “Marble Focus”, which is so calm and meditative sounding. Now, I do certainly like elements to this, like the hypnotic vibe as well as Mackenzie’s performance which is easily one of her best here. However, I feel like this is just floating into boring waters. Like, I would love this so much more if anything gigantic came from this. But let’s be honest and really honest, this one just starts off slow and ends off slow. I do think there are some very serene moments and some really great vocals. But Mackenzie can just do so much better.
On the other hand, the instrumental on “Concrete Ganesha” is just the sort of instrumental I’m totally into hearing from TORRES. It remains much more electronic. But I wouldn’t say that any of it gets in the way of her performance on this one. But even Mackenzie’s performance on this one is so much more visual and explosive, even commanding. Plus, I love the unpredictability of “Concrete Ganesha”. Now, this is still very bizarre and off-kilter for Mackenzie. But it’s also one of the most interesting on the entire album. It’s also seriously hypnotic, I can’t help but get swept up in the constantly shifting instrumentals on this one. I love the hulking atmosphere, and just how sinister everything comes off, so hell yea this works. Then we have the finale, “To Be Given A Body”. Now, this one certainly has a strong base, with this very agitate and strangely intense electronic beat. The atmosphere is seriously dense as well. But I feel like Mackenzie on this one is just selling herself way too short on this one. Lyrically, this is totally fine and very compelling, dare I say necessary for this album. But also, I feel like her performance is one of her weaker ones here. Still, though, I’m not completely bored with this finale, even though it’s over 8-minutes long. Plus, there are plenty of super epic instrumentals to go around, I just wish Mackenzie showed a little more life here.
Rating: 7.7/10
Give A Listen To: "Tongue Slap Your Brains Out", "Skim", "Helen In The Woods", "Bad Baby Pie"
Genre: Indie Rock / Folk / Alternative Rock
If You Dig This, Check Out: TORRES - "Sprinter", Sharon Van Etten - "Are We There"
Overall Thoughts: I feel basically the same way about this TORRES album as the last TORRES album.. I feel like as far as a performer goes, TORRES has something truly special. Her performances are heartfelt and passionate, and most of all very intense. However, her instrumentals remain super hit and miss. I feel like usually I would be more OK with an artist dealing with a series of slow burning tunes. But Mackenzie Scott just has such dominating performances that really demand more of a big instrumental. Which do show up on here, just not enough for my liking. Thankfully, Mackenzie is just so damn compelling on the microphone, making this album still really likable.
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