Words by Willa Rudolph
A few days ago, NYC based singer / indie pop rock artist Torture and The Desert Spiders released a new single “Working on Myself.” Calling upon tough-cookie icons such as PJ Harvey, Mitski, and Angel Olsen, Anna Kunz (A.K.A. Torture) has a palpable power and intensity felt through her rich, rough vocals.
Torture has the kind of voice that you can’t get enough of, with “Working On Myself” being a fun and electrifying track that gets into your veins and infuses you with self-assuredness. Torture tells The Deli, the song “is a sort of tongue-in-cheek response to the fact that I am always trying to become this better version of myself, and a whole slew of things including my own shortcomings and the circumstances within which I exist keep me from achieving that goal… [‘Working on Myself’ is] heavily inspired by more upbeat rock stuff, like Sprints and Amyl, Lambrini Girls, who constantly churn out pop-adjacent bangers with pretty raw lyrics.”
The post-punk leaning project first came to life in London in 2019, before Kunz rooted herself in Liverpool’s thriving underground scene. In the five years following, Torture and the Desert Spiders played 300+ shows. They appeared at festivals like Liverpool Sound City and Kendal Calling Festival and opened for bands like Crawlers, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, and Mattiel through a British Arts Council showcase. At that point, Kunz had become a fixture in the UK’s DIY rock community, known for her frenetic and cathartic performances.
In 2023, Kunz brought the project to Brooklyn and dropped singles like “Small Robberies” and “Blood on the Reef” (played this one a ton last year! see above!) that encapsulate the energy of their live shows. Since coming to New York, Torture has been holding a weekly residency at Baker Falls (F.K.A. Rockwood Music Hall) where she brings artists from NYC-based bands (plus drag queens, spoken word artists, etc. etc. many of them personal friends) into a more intimate setting than they’d normally play, scaling down their material to acoustic or solo renditions. The residency’s been held over for months due to its enduring appeal–giving audiences a chance to see fave local artist as they’ve never seen ’em before–and is still going strong.
As T&TDS work on their debut album, Torture is going full-throttle towards intensity, connection, and raw energy. Keep up with them here!