Torres – “Special” (Garbage Cover)

Torres – “Special” (Garbage Cover)

Earlier this year Torres released her incredibly poignant, silvery sophomore album Sprinter, a record that encompassed anger, abandonment, and forgiveness in the folds of veering, delicate folk-rock. That album came out back in May, so the idea of another new Torres song seemed slim and far off. But sometimes the universe comes together in exactly the way you need it to, and since Torres aka MacKenzie Scott was plucked out of the indie sphere to open for Garbage on their upcoming Twenty Years Queer anniversary tour, she’s shared a terrific cover of their track “Special.”

Whirring drums capture the way our thoughts circle endlessly around the tornado of our heartbreak, searching for some eye of calm in the midst of sudden, irrevocable loss. Like Shirley Manson, Scott is able to imbue a song that’s ostensibly about giving up with the tiniest glint of hope. “I thought you were special / But I’ve run out of patience” becomes a gauntlet, a final plea that they’ll come back and prove they are special, renew the well of hope that used to spring quick and fresh. Then, “Special” undercuts that anticipation, sinking into exhaustion. Scott’s vocals fleck the familiar lyrics with a thousand moment of love, pushing them toward the deadened terror of inevitable loss. There’s no way out of this labyrinth of emotion, but there’s no way in either. Scott cries out to us from the center, mapping her solitary confinement through the twists and turns of memory and time. The cover’s release is a fitting coup: Garbage’s 20th anniversary edition full of reissues and remixes is out today. Get that here and listen to Scott’s gloriously damaged homage below.

Here are Torres’ Fall tour dates:

10/02 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle w/ Brandi Carlile
10/03 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium w/ Brandi Carlile
10/06 San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s Concerts By The Bay w/ Garbage
10/07 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater w/ Garbage
10/08 Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre-Los Angeles w/ Garbage
10/10 Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas (Boulevard Pool) w/ Garbage
10/13 Houston, TX @ Revention Music Center w/ Garbage
10/14 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre w/ Garbage
10/15 Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom w/ Garbage
10/17 Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre w/ Garbage
10/18 Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater w/ Garbage
10/19 Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre w/ Garbage
10/21 Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre w/ Garbage
10/22 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall w/ Garbage
10/23 Westbury, NY @ The Space at Westbury w/ Garbage
10/24 Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre w/ Garbage
10/25 Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston w/ Garbage
10/26 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre w/ Garbage
10/27 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern w/ Garbage
10/28 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ Garbage
10/29 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ Garbage

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