What an enormous room - Torres: Review
Review by Lav:
Torres is the singer-songwriter project of Mackenzie Scott, who I've been listening to for a long time. Across her 5 studio albums so far she managed to make herself distinctive with both a variety of unique sonic eras and an entrancing lyricism. The last time we heard from Torres on Thirstier in 2021 she delivered her hardest rocking album yet which righteously dove into unflinching love songs one after another. But as the singles projected, What an enormous room is a transition back to a much colder and more specious sound she played with earlier in her career.
What an enormous room had three singles and I like all of them, though they each had to grow on me with repeat listens. The best of them is the lead single Collect, a song I've completely fallen in love with that now feels like a thesis for how chilling the album itself would turn out. The methodical repetition on the hook just reinforced how confrontational it is and the way the song develops an increasingly harsh demeanor throughout it perfect.
I got the fear came next. It's a chilling and spacious ballad that didn't really click with me until I dove into the lyrics. I love the way Mackenzie begins by singing about her own feat before pivoting to the anxieties of her partner. By the end, it morphs into a "dancing at the end of the world" moment which I'm a total sucker for. I also love Wake to flowers, one of the only moments on the album where Mackenzie conjures the same romantic poise as Thirstier. Normally I'm not crazy about hooks where the melody just mimics the guitar lead but there's something about the distortion it's soaked in and how her vocals cut through all of it that just sounds so excellent.
My favorite deep cut from a sonic perspective is Happy man's shoes. It reminds me right away of Torres' 2017 album Three Futures with this rigid pounding drum and wiry murmuring that back Mackenzie's icy vocals. That's even before we reach the spectacular spoken word passage of the song which sent it directly to the center of my heart. That track is directly followed by Life as we don't know it which almost feels like something entirely new for Torres. It's a short but sweet uptempo rock song that certainly stands out among the rest of the tracks here.
The biggest narrative highlight among the deep cuts is Forever home. It's a fascinating track from a songwriting perspective even though I'm not sure exactly how literal it's meant to be interpreted. I won't spoil the details but is features some incredibly compelling imagery of the early years in someone's life before they grow to find their own name and a place to call home. Even if the instrumental is a bit familiar I'm always so mesmerized by the lyrics that it never bothered me. Speaking of Torres returning to older styles, Artificial Limits is a longer track, the likes of which hasn't really appeared on her previous two records. While the song may not completely blow me away for its entire runtime it does reach a masterful conclusion. The wiry guitar leads and repetition of "anything can happen now" feels like the perfect conclusion for the song to reach.
I also like the songwriting on the closing track Songbird forever. It's a piano ballad that's arguably even more romantic than Wake to flowers and in a much more optimistic way. I definitely understand why the song is as sparse as it is presentation wise and it does a good job of guiding the album to a gentle close. But I can't say I find the spacey wandering of its composition all that compelling outside of that context. I have a similar instrumental ambivalence about Ugly mystery, a song I have pretty much nothing to say about even after numerous listens.
Finally, one of the most interesting and divisive songs on the record is Jerk into joy. It has an interesting contrast between the middle of the song and the intro and outro. The song begins and ends with this seemingly deliberately emotionless repetition of the album's title that manages to feel surprisingly ominous in a way I really appreciate. In between though, the song is the sweetest and most vulnerable singing and songwriting on the entire album. While I like the individual parts, the way they go together is remarkably strange.
What an enormous room sees Torres continuing to move forward even as she looks back. Though the album may sonically more resemble 2017's Three Futures it features a blend of songwriting clearly tapping into the vulnerabilities of Silver Tongue and the romanticism of Thirstier. But elsewhere on this album, Mackenzie trails entirely new ground as she so often does. This all comes together with impressive cohesion given the sheer variety of sounds and attitudes present on the album. It's all tied together by her dynamic songwriting and expansive production and mixes to make for yet another worthwhile effort from Torres. 7.5/10
For more Torres check out my reviews of Silver Tongue and Thirstier
