Penelope Scott, singer-songwriter and producer, reigned supreme on Tik Tok alt subcultures back in the earlier part of the decade. Her blunt but emotionally layered political commentary, 8-bit inspired production, and breathy vocal delivery either baffled or enthralled listeners. Those who fit the former camp unleashed online hell, calling Scott’s music childish, unlistenable — and worst of all — cringe. However, as the COVID lockdown slowly came to an end, those of us who found comfort in Scott’s authenticity developed a narrative that she was bullied out of making music. Neither of these statements were particularly true.
Not only has Scott released multiple EPs and singles since her sophomore album in 2020, she has also maintained that online vitriol has never meant that much to her, Still, I can’t help but feel the general public wrote her off too quickly. The early 2020s were not that long ago, but a lot has changed. An album filled with crunchy synths and rambling autotuned verses went on to become one of the most critically acclaimed pop albums of last year. Scott’s social commentary — particularly in “Rät” and “American Healthcare,” which were criticisms against Elon Musk and the healthcare system respectively — have only become more relevant. If there was ever a time for a Penelope Scott “redemption,” it is now.
Water Dogs was released in March of this year, with the lead single “Girl’s Always Right” dropping shortly beforehand. According to Scott, the song is about how feminism and dating have been interacting lately. On the surface, “Girl’s”’ narrator is a woman struggling in a tumultuous heterosexual relationship where her partner is consistently switching sides in their arguments. She later attributes this disagreement to the complexity of the world they live in. It eventually becomes clear that this song is supposed to represent a female perspective of the gender divide between Gen Z, a mainly online phenomena that has manifested itself into real life. As evident especially from the final lyric, “liberate the pound dogs, don’t even think about the cars,” Scott argues that the rise of modern day feminism did not account for how it ideologically plays out in intergender relationships, equating the concept to liberating a dogpound just for them all to be run over by a car.
Lyrically, “Girl’s” is one of Scott’s most complex songs yet, expertly capturing an extremely nuanced topic. It could’ve taken the simpler route and have been solely about the constantly shifting expectations put on women. However, it took that concept a step further, deciding to grapple with why the gender divide may be especially hard to bridge for a generation of women raised in an era of third wave feminist influence. Musically, however, it falls short.
The switching from a piano to a more 8-bit inspired backing track whenever the song portrays the couple arguing is an interesting symbolic touch, representing how the gender divide is typically most evident online, and is often treated like a game between two “sides”. The verse and pre chorus melodies are incessantly catchy. However, the decision to drag out the chorus ruins the momentum of the song. The synths used in the chorus were also a poor tonal choice — I understand that Scott is allowed to evolve past crunchy, reverbed 8-bits, but these sounded akin to a back-to-school Target commercial. Most egregiously, Scott’s already struggling vocals are overcompressed in the mix, making her voice clash even more with the already mixed-bag of an instrumental. I want to like this song so, so bad, but it’s just not a good listening experience. While Scott’s lyrical skill only increases with time, “Girl’s Always Right” struggles as a song, especially a lead single.
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