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Jun 16, 2021 By Mark Redfern Photography by Shervin Lainez

TORRES (aka MacKenzie Scott) is releasing a new album, Thirstier, on July 30 via Merge. Now she has shared its second single, “Hug From a Dinosaur,” via a video for it. Watch it below, followed by TORRES’ upcoming tour dates.

Scott had this to say about the song in a press release: “The title emerged from a dream I had. The song’s theme is that truth is eternal, and it’s also about never stopping. To bring it back down to earth, the song’s also about being ready to drop everything to do something essential for someone you love. In this instance, it’s bringing my girlfriend lunch so she can keep painting.”

Previously Scott shared the album’s first single, “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head,” via a video for it. It was one of our Songs of the Week.

Thirstier is the follow-up to 2020’s Silver Tongue, which was her first album for Merge following a one-album stint on 4AD with Three Futures. Thirstier was recorded in the fall of 2020 at Middle Farm Studios in the UK and Scott co-produced the album with Rob Ellis and Peter Miles (she self-produced Silver Tongue). A press release says the album “marks a turn towards a bigger, more bombastic sound for TORRES. The anxious hush that fell over much of Scott’s previous music gets turned inside-out in songs tailored for post-plague celebration.” The press release also compares the production to that by Butch Vig on ’90s albums by Nirvana and Garbage.

“I wanted to channel my intensity into something that felt positive and constructive, as opposed to being intense in a destructive or eviscerating way,” Scott says in the press release. “I love the idea that intensity can actually be something life-saving or something joyous.”

Scott indicates that she’s in a good place in her life right now and that the album stems from that. “I’ve been conjuring this deep, deep joy that I honestly didn’t feel for most of my life,” she says. “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.”

Scott calls “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” her “relentless arena country star moment—my shameless Tim McGraw cheeseball hit.”

Read our 2020 interview with TORRES on Silver Tongue.

Read our 2017 interview with TORRES on Three Futures.

Read our 2015 interview with TORRES on Sprinter.

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
Thu. Sept. 30 - San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
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

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