What an enormous room

Album review

It makes sense that Torres (née Mackenzie Scott) has spoken of being influenced by both Broadway and Sylvia Plath. High drama and quiet moments both have a place on the sixth album from the Brooklyn singer-songwriter. "Collect" exudes an undeniable goth vibe via a heavy grind with wheezy organ and metallic beats. “You expect to be first/ You claim what you didn't earn,” Scott seethes, before proclaiming judgment: "I am the Water of Life"—a reference to the Holy Spirit—and "I am the Angel of Death/ I am here to collect/ I am here to collect/ I am here to collect,” on and on, teeth bared. It is chilling and exhilarating and Scott has referred to it as “The rage song I’ve been trying to write for years!” Urgent and percussive tracks like dancey "Life As We Don't Know It" and "Happy Man's Shoes" are slick with futuristic flourishes as Scott adopts an automaton delivery for serrated lines like "I've got a way of not seeing the dead .... it's not like it's your demise, babe/ My star's just on the rise, babe.” But Torres warms up on "I Got the Fear,” a beautiful ballad about anxiety (“Worry's got me by the throat … it's breathing down my neck/ And it does not care that I object”), which evokes "Something in the Way" by Nirvana. “Artificial Limits,” likewise, has a ragged Kurt Cobain quality, while "Forever Home” and "Songbird Forever" lean more toward early Liz Phair—the latter by combining earnest, sturdy piano with ethereal vocals that travel deep and high. "I am your king/ I am your queen/ I am everything in between,” sings Scott, who is non-binary. It sounds like a threat and a promise. Many of the songs on What an Enormous Room, which is produced by Scott and Sarah Jaffe (the two also play the myriad instruments), end abruptly, seemingly mid-conversation or thought, which can be unsettling. But trust the process. When Scott goes tender—as on the compelling, Lucy Dacus-esque “Jerk Into Joy”—it’s lovely. Yet it's also striking how an entire album like this would become monotonous; the soft underbelly needs all the other rough, angular edges to make it shine. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz