Boy Scouts, the project of Oakland-based songwriter Taylor Vick, is releasing a second album called Wayfinder in October, and following on from lead single “That’s Life Honey” comes today’s new offering “Didn’t I”. Vick introduces the song, saying:
“Why are we alive? Is there a point to any of this? Have I done this before? I was thinking about these questions like that, just playing with these ideas and being curious. I lost that curiosity for many years, and it came back to me in the last year. I started to wonder about these types of things again. It feels better to have curiosity for life.”
“Didn’t I” opens with lethargic keys and synth, putting us in mind of Boy Scouts lying back, looking at the sky and just wondering about everything. “I don’t have the answers,” she begins, “sitting by the gutter, discussing eternity.” The song remains in this lounging state, but she curls in from the big ideas (“maybe we’re living in someone’s bad dream”) to her own personal exploration about someone she’s lost; “Left me with much to wonder / Have I wondered this before,” and later suggests “maybe I’ll see you in the next dream.” While “Didn’t I” features a stripped-back array of keys and synths – then later gorgeous strings and pedal steel – Boy Scouts’ emotional openness and use of melody reveals a whole world of gorgeously inquisitive interiority, which she invites us to wallow in with her.
The video for “Didn’t I” was directed and edited by Lucy Sandler, who has previously worked with Billie Eilish. Check it out below or find the song on streaming platforms.
Boy Scouts’ new album Wayfinder arrives on October 1 through Anti- (pre-order/save). You can find her on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
