Penelope Scott

Penelope Scott is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer.

In 2020, Scott released two compilation albums of demos: ''Junkyard'' and ''The Junkyard 2'', followed by her debut album, ''Public Void''. Her song "Rät" went viral shortly after, peaking at no. 29 on ''Billboard''s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Chart. Scott then released the EP ''Hazards'' in 2021, followed by two more EPs, ''Girl's Night'' and ''Mysteries for Rats'' in 2023.

Scott had produced all of her music until 2025, when she released her second studio album, ''Water Dogs'', produced by Max Hershenow.

Background

Early life and career

Scott grew up in California. Scott's father taught her how to use a microphone and introduced her to the technical side of music, as he had experience working as a roadie on tour. Scott's mother encouraged her to take piano lessons around eight or nine years old, and she continued to until her mid-teens. In middle and high school, Scott focused on learning pop songs by ear, writing lyrics, and learning to record. After graduating high school, Scott started college at Willamette University. There she joined her college's choir and learned to play the guitar. Scott majored in political science, while also taking courses in philosophy and computer science. In her senior year, she took a music production class, which was taught online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Scott initially learned to produce remotely using the free software LMMS rather than Pro Tools, which she began using later.

Scott began publishing her songs online on SoundCloud in 2018, under the name Honey Morello. She posted her first EP, ''Goblin Hours'', on Bandcamp on October 24, 2019. She released the compilation album ''Junkyard'' on February 27, 2020, followed shortly by the release of ''The Junkyard 2'' on May 13, 2020. The songs on the latter explored sensitive topics such as emotional labor, insecurity, and healthcare. A song from that album, "Sweet Hibiscus Tea", also went viral the same month it was released. Scott was surprised at the success of ''The Junkyard 2'' considering its lack of mixing.

2020–2022: ''Public Void'' and ''Hazards'' EP

Scott's debut album, ''Public Void'', was initially released on Bandcamp on August 29, 2020, then released September 25, 2020 on streaming services. In late 2020, her music found a larger audience on the short-form video-sharing app TikTok. A song off ''Public Void'', "Rät", went viral on the app in November 2020. The song expresses disappointment with Silicon Valley and technology billionaires, specifically Elon Musk. "Rät" peaked at 29 on ''Billboard''s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Chart. Music producer Jesse Cannon cited Scott and the song's success as an example of artists reaching an audience beyond their niche, and calling its lyrics "so extremely online".

On November 4, 2020, Scott released the single "Born2Run", clips of which went viral prior to its official release. The song garnered attention after the January 6 United States Capitol attack, due to its lyrics describing a similar but fictional storming of the Capitol by politically involved youth. On April 30, 2021, Scott was featured on the song "Brittle, Baby!" by Char Chris. She also appeared in its video as an animated version of herself.

In July 2021, Scott released the song "7 O'Clock" and announced an EP, ''Hazards'', which released on August 27, 2021, through Many Hats Distribution. She released the song "Dead Girls" as a single a day before the EP's release. In July 2021, Scott announced her first tour to support ''Hazards'', beginning on the US West Coast in December 2021. She also announced East Coast tour dates for January 2022, but these were canceled due to concerns about then rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. In December 2021, Scott covered Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" for an episode of the Recording Academy's ''ReImagined''.

In May 2022, Scott played at the Belltown Bloom music festival in Seattle. In June, she began another U.S. headlining tour, supported by Rosie Tucker, fanclubwallet, and Yot Club. Scott then embarked on a UK/EU tour in July, supported by Addison Grace. In October 2022, she was featured on Cincinnati-based artist Lincoln's song "Baby Take My Acid", which appeared on his debut album ''Everything is Wrong''.

2023–2024: ''Mysteries for Rats / Girl's Night''

On September 20, 2023, Scott released the single "Gross", followed by the single "Time of My Life" on October 12. On September 25, she announced a pair of EPs, ''Girl's Night'' and ''Mysteries for Rats'', which released on November 3 and November 17 respectively.

Scott stated that she decided split the release into two EPs to differentiate their sound, saying "Whereas before, if you were buying one CD or record, you would want quantity, now you can pick the songs individually and put them in your playlist. I think being reserved and sorting the songs beforehand by vibe is a way to make the work more pleasant to the listener."

Both EPs were combined as the double EP ''Mysteries for Rats / Girl's Night'' for their vinyl release.

2025–present: ''Water Dogs''

On February 27, 2025, Scott released the single "Girl's Always Right" alongside the announcement of her second studio album, ''Water Dogs'', which released on March 14, 2025.

Recognition

In November 2020, Scott appeared on ''Rolling Stone''s Breakthrough 25, which showcases artists with large gains in streaming numbers—she was fifth, with 5.4million streams that week. Her song "Rät" appeared in the Top 40 of ''Billboard''s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. ''Billboard''s Danielle Chelosky said of her music, "Sonically, it's like being inside of a videogame; lyrically, it's like scrolling a Tumblr meme page of an edgy teenage girl."

Scott has been described as an example of TikTok allowing music artists to be successful without signing to a label; she reached threemillion monthly listeners on Spotify without substantial media coverage. By March 2021, her music had been streamed an estimated 88million times in the U.S., and her Youtube channel has over 100 million views as of February 2023.

Musical style and influences

Scott's music has been called "baroque punk". Chelosky said that her music features aspects of hyperpop. Scott said that she has "been waiting for anyone to come up with an accurate description" of her genre of music.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Penelope
2000 births
Living people
Musicians from California
American women singer-songwriters
American TikTokers
Chiptune and tracker musicians
American indie folk musicians
21st-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American women singers