Typically an artist's best album is their first, or maybe they peak three albums into a career. Occasionally you'll get a Tom Petty who released Wildflowers almost twenty years after his debut album. But then you have TORRES, who seems to get better and better with each album. She's set to release her sixth in January, and judging by the first single, she might be continuing that streak. "Collect" is more of Mackenzie Scott's trademark version of indie rock. It's indie rock with some elements of pop, and almost impossibly intense. "Collect" is heavy on reverb, and has a very sinister vibe throughout. TORRES has crafted her own branch of indie rock, and with this one she's expended to an almost industrial sound. It might be the loudest song she's ever done without adding more rock guitar.
Mackenzie Scott says of her latest single:
“This song is about justice being served. The rage song I’ve been trying to write for years!"
You can watch the video for "Collect" below. What an enormous room is due out January 26 on Merge Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on TORRES, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
Wed, Jan 17 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop * Thu, Jan 18 - Chicago, IL @ Venue TBA Fri, Jan 19 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar * Sat, Jan 20 - Nashville, TN @ The Basement * Mon, Jan 22 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Purgatory) * Tue, Jan 23 - Durham, NC @ Motorco * Wed, Jan 24 - Washington, DC @ The Atlantis * Thu, Jan 25 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry * Fri, Jan 26 - Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere * Sat, Jan 27 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair Fri, Feb 2 - Paris, FR @ Le Hasard Ludique Sat, Feb 3 - Bruges, BE @ Cactus Club Mon, Feb 5 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Upstairs Tue, Feb 6 - Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN Wed, Feb 7 - Berlin, DE @ Privatclub Thu, Feb 8 - Munich, DE @ Milla Sat, Feb 10 - Baden, CH @ One of a Million Festival Mon, Feb 12 - Manchester, UK @ YES Tue, Feb 13 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew Wed, Feb 14 - London, UK @ Oslo Wed, Mar 20 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge ^ Fri, Mar 22 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court ^ Sat, Mar 23 - Boise, ID @ Venue TBA Tue, Mar 26 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^ Wed, Mar 27 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios ^ Fri, Mar 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord ^ Sat, Mar 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room ^ Mon, Apr 1 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah ^ Tue, Apr 2 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar ^ Thu, Apr 4 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada ^ Fri, Apr 5 - Austin, TX @ The Parish ^ Sat, Apr 6 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) ^ * w/ Aisha Burns ^ w/ Liza Anne
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
