To say that
Torres
'
Mackenzie Scott
had a rough 2018 is a bit of an understatement. Six months after she released her
4AD
debut,
Three Futures
, the label released her from her contract; despite its considerable critical acclaim, it didn't meet their commercial expectations. Coupled with the end of a relationship and a family health scare, it's no wonder that
Scott
contemplated giving up music entirely during this period of time. Fortunately for her and her listeners, she didn't. If
Silver Tongue
is anything to go by, coping with these changes and losses has opened her art and given it new purpose: As she digs into feeling knocked sideways for reasons good and bad,
reveals the big heart behind her music like never before.
is her first album for the stalwart indie label
Merge
, and it's also the first album she's produced completely by herself. It's no surprise, then, that its sound balances the rawness of
and
Sprinter
and the abstract atmospheres of
with a light yet confident touch. On "Last Forest," electronic textures hover and rotate like sound sculptures while charging guitars add a heroic quality, heightening the feeling that the love
is singing about is so rare and true that it stands the test of time -- and maybe even defies time itself. On some of
's most affecting moments, she embraces the cowboy romance of her Southern roots and reinvents it to reflect her truth as a lesbian. "I tend to sleep with my boots on/Should I need to gallop over dark water/To you/On short notice,"
sings on "Dressing America," challenging her partner to be as brave as she is. On "Good Scare," she flirts with a twang: "You make me want to write the country song folks here in New York get a kick out of." She's an even sharper observer and songwriter than she was on
, whether she's addressing a rival with a compelling mix of tenderness and pain on the luminous "Two of Everything" or using the subtle shifts of meaning in a line like "I don't want you going home anymore/I want you coming home" to their fullest on the stunning "Gracious Day." Like
' previous album,
takes some time to unfold, but it's well worth it; by fluently expressing the resilience it takes to bounce back from hard times, she comes into her own. ~ Heather Phares