“You make me want to write the country song folks here in New York get a kick out of,” sings Mackenzie Scott on her latest single as Torres. “I’d sing about knockin’ you up under Tennessee stars in the bed of my red Chevrolet pickup.” It’s a proclamation of tender love and affection from an artist whose recent album, Three Futures, was a study in pulverizing lust.

“Good Scare,” the song in question, is the lead single and opening track from Torres’ new album Silver Tongue — her fourth overall and first for Merge, where she signed this year after a messy falling-out with prior label home 4AD. This is also her first self-produced LP, and judging by “Good Scare” it will find her continuing to blend her early singer-songwriter fare with woozy electronics.

In a press release, Scott reflected on the song:

I guess I could say that falling in love is a lot like the Superman crawl. If you’re not familiar with Superman’s crawl, it’s a terrifying maneuver used in spelunking that’s only performed when certain passages are too narrow, so a person has to hold one arm against the body and the other above the head, all while trying to crawl forward. When you fall in love with someone, it’s scary like the Superman’s crawl, but you have no choice but to keep moving forward even though you have no idea what’s ahead of you.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Good Scare”
02 “Last Forest”
03 “Dressing America”
04 “Records Of Your Tenderness”
05 “Two Of Everything”
06 “Good Grief”
07 “A Few Blue Flowers”
08 “Gracious Day”
09 “Silver Tongue”

TOUR DATES:
11/02 – Durham, NC @ Motorco (early & late shows) *
11/04 – Alexandria, VA @ The Birchmere *
11/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live *
11/06 – Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theatre *
11/07 – Brooklyn, NY @ Murmrr Theatre *
01/31 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Sultan Room (record release show)
03/03 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
03/04 – Manchester, UK @ YES Basement
03/05 – London, UK @ Oslo
03/06 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique (Witloof Bar)
03/07 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (Upstairs)
03/09 – Hamburg, DE @ Turmzimmer
03/10 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
03/11 – Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain
03/12 – Heidelberg, DE @ Karlstorbahnhof
03/13 – Zürich, CH @ Rote Fabrik
03/14 – Torino, IT @ Circolo della Musica
03/16 – Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up du Label
* = solo performance supporting Superchunk

Silver Tongue is out 1/31 on Merge. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Michael Lavine