Track listing: Beginnings, Woman, Winter Solstice, That Night, Slow, Great Escape, I Know Nothing
"Woman" is the latest release from LA-based singer/ songwriter V Torres, her sophomore effort. This project saw Torres take her seat in the co- producer position, a decision that allowed her to feel like she could fully express herself in a way that she hadn't been able to in the past.
The title track, released in June with an accompanying video filmed in a desert landscape, is an exploration of the frustration of how a woman's life can feel like an endless string of days full of nothing but work. For example, she sings "My work it never ends/ It just starts over and over again." The song starts out with a surf rock riff that creates an almost Tarantino-esque soundscape. This is clearly not a woman to mess with and this is not a joyful celebration of womanhood. Torres has said the song felt "heavy." She sings of the way a woman's work can start before she even gets out of bed, "When the dawn it breaks/ and I see your face/ looking back at me/ and I start to begin/ by letting you in/ Ain't life something sweet / with a woman's work on me." Admittedly this can be a really nice way to start or end the day, but when it's more of a demand, an expectation that a woman has to "perform her wifely or womanly duties" it can feel like one more thing someone needs from you, energy they want to take from you, and one can grow to resent sex at times.
And that's one of the issues with being a woman. At times it can feel like even the joyful moments of womanhood are draining. Everyone needs something from you - your partner, your children, your aging parents. The desert landscape that runs throughout the video feels very symbolic to me of what it can feel like to be a woman and also the way society sometimes views that older woman. In a desert you can see for miles - there is no one available to help - and like the desert, you can feel empty, with all of your emotions and energy dried and used up. Torres sings "Spent your whole life raising kids to be strong/ now you're broken, battled, scarred/ It's no wonder the light seems so far."
And it can be hard, and hope can seem far away. You’ve spent your life taking care of others, but you can’t be sure that any romantic partnership will last forever. Your kids, who literally start draining a woman from the inside (although I wouldn’t trade the ability to carry children for anything), grow up and fly out of the nest. Sadly, elderly parents pass on, and society can view older women who’ve lived a full life as dried up, barren and no longer of use. Just when you actually get some time to focus on yourself.
The rest of the album doesn't disappoint. The opening track, "Beginnings" gave me a bit of a 90s alternative rock / pop singer songwriter feel. I love the sound of the guitar and tambourine together that also lend a bit of a retro feel, while the lyrics deal with cycles of beginnings, endings and rebirth.
The 2nd single "Winter Solstice" deals with the tender subject of trying to comfort a friend who is grieving the loss of someone close to them. I was preparing myself for a big tear-jerker but was pleasantly surprised that the song was more upbeat, more like the posture would take when trying to cheer someone up. In fact, the riff reminds me a little of a very modernized (and generally less 80s) "Hit me with Your Best Shot," by Pat Benatar. It's so difficult to approach someone else's grief, but I love the line that Torres repeats, "It's time to let me hold you." It's honestly such a simple sentiment but sounds like salvation to me at this point in my life (sort of living through the worst part of being a woman myself right now and losing my mom). I truly wish I had someone to say that to me at this very moment. Offering to hold a friend and to take some of the unimaginable weight off of their shoulders is just the greatest gift one can offer sometimes.
“That Night” made me feel really nostalgic. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been obsessed with Stevie Nicks since I was a little girl. The opening guitar and “Oohs” immediately took me back to Bella Donna-era Stevie. Then, in perfect serendipity, the song begins to unfold in a way that reminds me a lot of the late, great Tom Petty. Petty was Nicks’ duet partner on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and one of her close friends and biggest musical influences, and Nicks famously recorded a version of his “I Need to Know” as well. I love when Torres asks, “What does your body tell you about me when you’re with me?” It’s a great line that almost epitomizes the sexual tension I can feel throughout the song.
Another influence (or perhaps just a similarity only I hear) is early Sheryl Crow. I hear this the most clearly in the song "Slow," one of my favorites on the album, which explores concepts of identity. "Time is never gonna make it right," she sings "what is bad, what is good, what is fine?"
"Great Escape" is a song where Torres dissects and reflects on her post-divorce feelings. "How do I Feel / six months today/ Time is a man made thing anyway" which reminds me of the numb, apathetic way I felt after splitting up with my ex-husband because divorce can be great in a way, if you feel like you're "Locked in a Cage / I needed to escape," like I did but there are often mixed emotions involved, which Torres seems to be experiencing as well when she sings,"Take the guilt away / that's not a real emotion anyway." And she's right. Guilt is more of a burden we put on ourselves and ending a marriage can definitely cause one to take on the weight of guilt. I apologize that for some younger folks it may go over your head, but for me, the dial tone at the end is a true mic drop moment that sums up the end of any serious romantic relationship... A dead line with no one on the other end, no way to get them back... It's just a devastating feeling of emptiness, even if the relationship was toxic.
“I Know Nothing” is a great way to end an album that explores so many heavy topics. With lines like “I know when it gets good / I could be misunderstood / I know nothing,” Torres captures a feeling I can relate to deeply. At the end of the day, despite all the experience and wisdom we accumulate, sometimes it still feels like we know nothing.
This is a really solid album from beginning to end. There are many potential singles and I love the ones she's chosen to share so far. The album is due for release on September 1st and you can pre order a vinyl copy now at @vtorresmusic on Instagram.