Ears Wide Open: Temme Scott

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Temme Scott (Photo by Sean Poole)

Even when she’s doubting herself, there’s a gripping resolve in Temme Scott’s voice on her new single “Understudy.”

Scott, who started the march toward the release of her debut album “Trust You, Trust You” with a successful residency in February at the Bootleg Theater, released the single last week. It’s an intoxicating jazz-soul number, first unveiled for an NPR Tiny Desk Concert submission in 2018, that finds the singer-songwriter’s sinuous vocals winding in and out of a serpentine, swelling arrangement. “I wanna play the lead,” she sings, ending by questioning “Why don’t I act with my heart?”

“Understudy” followed “A Lot to Lose,” released early this year as the follow-up to a string of 2019 singles and the 2018 EP, “Firsts.” Scott, a Baltimore native (born Taylor Broom) who gained attention as a teenager in the band Say Chance, originally landed in L.A. to attend UCLA, eventually doing house shows in the Westwood area and curating the Silverhouse Songs series of singer-songwriter events.

Now she’s readying an album that will feature songs co-produced by Jim Fairchild (Modest Mouse, Grandaddy, as well as her duet partner in the new project Grace Meridian), Jamie Sierota (Echosmith), Grant Milliken and Joel Manduke.

The sheer warmth of “Understudy” (produced by Milliken with addition production by Jimmy Keely) suggests that Scott has a lot more heat on the way.

||| Stream: “Understudy”

||| Also: Check out “A Lot to Lose” and “Shy”