Tear Your Heart Out

As Villagerrr, Mark Allen Scott's songs are mesmerizing and unmistakably Midwestern. The prolific Ohio artist thrives on imbuing mundane moments with disarming emotional clarity. His latest LP 'Tear Your Heart Out', his fourth album since he started the project in early 2022, is for long drives where the light shines through the sunroof, small-town get-togethers, and the times when you realize more about yourself and who you want in your life.Scott is based in Columbus but was raised in Chillicothe, in southern Ohio alongside the Scioto River. It's a rural town that felt small and stifling growing up but, for all it's faults, now feels like home. "I want to wear where I'm from and my family on my sleeve," says Scott. "I'm proud of the twangy influence in my music from corny country songs I'd hear on the bus rides to school. I feel like I'm reclaiming where I come from and making it my own."These 11 home-recorded songs of tasteful indie rock with understated twang are the most assured and fully realized effort from Scott yet. It's a new leap for an artist uncompromisingly doing things their way.