After making waves with her 2020 record Silver Tongue, Mackenzie Scott—aka TORRES—is back with a new single, a new record announcement and a slurry of new tour dates. Titled Thirstier, the Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album is set to drop on July 30 via Merge Records. On May 12, she released the record’s first single, “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head.”
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With a driving backbeat, a bed of glistening synth pads and that signature Nashvillian brand of country-meets-alternative, “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” is an energetic, yet introspective tune, almost like a car speeding down the freeway. Outside, there’s momentum and movement—inside, there’s a pensive calmness. In many ways, that mirrors the headspace Scott was in when she penned the tune.
“I wanted to channel my intensity into something that felt positive and constructive, as opposed to being intense in a destructive or eviscerating way,” she said in a press statement. “I love the idea that intensity can actually be something life-saving 0r something joyous. I’ve been conjuring this deep, deep joy that I honestly didn’t feel for most of my life. I feel like a rock within myself. And I’ve started to feel that I have what it takes to help other people conjure their joy too.”
With raw and revealing lyrics looking at the tug-of-war politics of a relationship, “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” shows off Scott’s knack for intuitive and cathartic songcraft. Graduating in 2012 from Nashville’s Belmont University with a degree in songwriting, she’s developed an inimitable voice throughout her career… at that goes for both her lyrics and her literal singing voice itself. Jumping from her chest voice to her head voice with blazing emotion only matched by the likes of someone like Angel Olsen, the music and the themes come together to form a moving union.
Dropping alongside the single is a corresponding music video, made in Scott’s apartment with her partner. Capturing the enduring spirit of creativity in the “stay at home” era the pandemic’s necessitated the past year, Scott makes her apartment feel like a stadium stage, describing the video in her words as “my relentless arena country star moment—my shameless Tim McGraw cheeseball moment.” And while the video is certainly fun, if fans want to get a real taste of Scott’s live show experience, they’ll get the chance—on Wednesday, she also revealed details for her upcoming tour, which is set to go across the United States in Fall 2021 and Europe in early 2022.
TORRES’ fifth studio album, Thirstier, is set to drop on July 30 via Merge Records. Watch the music video for its first single “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” and check out her upcoming tour dates below:
TORRES TOUR DATES:
Sun. Aug. 29 – Fairfield, CT @ StageOne
Mon. Aug. 30 – Portsmouth, NH @ Press Room
Tue. Aug. 31 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia
Fri. Sept. 3 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Mon. Sept. 13 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Tue. Sept. 14 – Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Wed. Sept. 15 – Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar
Thu. Sept. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Fri. Sept. 17 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sat. Sept. 18 – Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
Sun. Sept. 19 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Tue. Sept. 21 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Wed. Sept. 22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Sat. Sept. 25 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival
Mon. Sept. 27 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
Tue. Sept. 28 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
Fri. Oct. 1 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Atrium @ Catalyst
Sat. Oct. 2 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Sun. Oct. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
Mon. Oct. 4 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
Wed. Oct. 6 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Co.
Thu. Oct. 7 – Houston, TX @ Bronze Peacock
Fri. Oct. 8 – Austin, TX @ 3TEN @ ACL Live
Mon. Oct. 11 – Chattanooga, TN @ House Show
Tue. Oct. 12 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Wed. Oct. 13 – Asheville, NC @ ISIS Asheville
Thu. Oct. 14 – Nashville, TN @ EXIT/IN
Fri. Oct. 15 – Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord
Sat. Oct. 16 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
Sun. Oct. 17 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Mon. Oct. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Thu. Oct. 21 – New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
Fri. March 11, 2022 – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
Sat. March 12, 2022 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sun. March 13, 2022 – Manchester, UK @ Night & Day
Mon. March 14, 2022 – Bristol, UK @ Exchange
Tue. March 15, 2022 – London, UK @ Bush Hall
Thu. March 17, 2022 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire
Fri. March 18, 2022 – Gent, BE @ Charlatan
Sat. March 19, 2022 – Utrecht, NL @ Ekko
Mon. March 21, 2022 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
Tue. March 22, 2022 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich (Turmzimmer)
Wed. March 23, 2022 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & SOHN
Thu. March 24, 2022 – Heidelberg, DE @ Karlstorbahnhof
Fri. March 25, 2022 – Zürich, CH @ Rote Fabrik
Sat. March 26, 2022 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
