B
In addition to being a strong contender for the best title of 2024, What An Enormous Room showcases Torres in full rock star mode as she boldly declares her ambitions. The album’s opening track features a powerful guitar riff and her confident proclamation that she has grown and her star is rising.
It has been ten years since the debut release of the indie rock musician, also known as Mackenzie Scott. The album featured intimate and emotionally charged songs. Since then, she has expanded her sound and performance style, using a wider range of instruments and showcasing the powerful depth of her voice. In her recent single “Collect,” she displays all of her prowess, confronting a scornful enemy with sharp piano melodies and intense distortion. In “Wake to Flowers,” she revels in her newfound confidence, celebrating with her significant other in the gentle morning light. The drums and bass guitar join in, building towards a joyful and grateful climax: “Is this really my life? I’m amazed, I’m amazed!”
Against such decisive singles, many of the record’s softer tracks – such as the murky Artificial Limits – feel uncharacteristically cautious. Surprising, given that Torres’s versatility is usually her strength: Jerk Into Joy is oddly staid despite its moving narrative. What An Enormous Room doesn’t yet fulfil Torres’s stadium-sized promises, but form and ambition align on album highlight I Got the Fear. Powerfully claustrophobic, this whispered ballad about battling sudden panic could hold any room enthralled.
Source: theguardian.com
