Torres

As Torres, singer/songwriter Mackenzie Scott embodies the courage it takes to be completely vulnerable with her raw vocals and insightful lyrics. Her 2013 self-titled, self-released debut album introduced her flair for combining drama with intimacy, a talent she refined over the years. She added a rock edge to 2015's Sprinter, embellished 2020's Silver Tongue with folk and electronic touches, and combined the two with arena-sized polish on 2021's acclaimed Thirstier. With the outspoken introspection of 2024's What an Enormous Room and the queer perspectives she and Julien Baker brought to country music on 2025's Send a Prayer My Way, Torres continued to find fresh perspectives on soul-baring songwriting. Raised in Macon, Georgia, Scott began singing seriously in high school, performing in school musicals, singing in church, and taking up the guitar. As a teenager in 2009, she moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. While finishing her degree, she recorded her first album, the self-titled Torres -- a tribute to her grandfather's surname -- at singer/songwriter/guitarist Tony Joe White's studio in Franklin, Tennessee. The set was co-produced by Scott and Belmont alum Ryan McFadden and released in January 2013. Though Torres didn't make an impact commercially, Scott earned acclaim from the music press for her mature songwriting. After extensive touring to support the record, including opening spots for Hamilton Leithauser and Sharon Van Etten, she appeared on Van Etten's 2014 album Are We There. Following a move to Brooklyn, Scott decamped to Dorset, England, to work with producer Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey, Marianne Faithfull) on Torres' volatile second album, Sprinter. Released in May 2015 on Partisan Records, it reached 20 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in the U.S. Following Sprinter's critical acclaim, Scott signed to the British independent record label 4AD, which issued her third album in September 2017. Inspired by the writing of Lorrie Moore and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Three Futures reunited Ellis and Torres and celebrated the body's potential for joy. Though the album earned strong reviews, its sales fell short of 4AD's expectations, and the label released Scott from her contract in April 2018. Scott took some time away from making music before signing to Merge in 2019. Torres' self-produced debut for the label, Silver Tongue, appeared in January 2020 and expanded on the more reflective side of her music. Later that year, Scott issued the single "Too Big for the Glory Hole" and Live in Berlin, a live album recorded at the last show she and her band played before the COVID-19 global pandemic. She used the time away from the road to write songs, and worked with co-producers Ellis and Peter Miles to record her fifth long-player at Middle Farm Studios in Devon, U.K. Released in July 2021, Thirstier turned up the volume on Torres' music with a joyous blend of rock, folk, and electronic sounds. The following September, Scott started work on her sixth album. Recorded in North Carolina and co-produced by Sarah Jaffe, January 2024's What an Enormous Room spanned influences such as Laurie Anderson, Nirvana, and ABBA in its contemplative yet dynamic songs. That year, Torres also previewed her collaboration with Julien Baker, performing songs they'd written together at Baker's Webster Hall residency and at festival shows. The pair's first single, "Sugar in the Tank," arrived that December, with "Sylvia" following a month later. Both tracks appeared on Julien Baker & Torres' April 2025 debut album, Send a Prayer My Way, a set of country songs with a queer perspective that celebrated the music the duo grew up with while living in the South.
© Heather Phares & Marcy Donelson /TiVo