Boy Scouts confronts insecurity head-on in “A Lot To Ask”

Adept at crafting bittersweet narratives with her searching voice, Boy Scouts – the moniker of Oakland-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Vick – has marked the end to another summer with sombre melancholy.

Led by an imperfect acoustic guitar, “A Lot To Ask” is a quiet, introspective meditation in the sunlight. "I don’t mean to come off like this / Being myself’s a lot to ask” runs a line from the track as Vick explores the difficulty in embodying self-confidence and downplays her actions and thoughts against a hazy soundscape.

The accompanying video sees Boy Scouts embrace the 100-degree heat of the Central Valley where Vick grew up. In dancing on grass with friends, singing into a wired telephone, donning a handful of hats, and playing the guitar on a tractor under the Californian sun, Boy Scouts calmly puts insecurity into perspective while addressing vulnerability head-on.

“I've always been pretty uncomfortable with conflict and generally avoid it at all costs,” Vick explains. “Until recent years, this also meant not acknowledging or wanting to look at any issues of my own.”

“That meant a lot of feeling bad and unequipped to deal with those feelings, feeling like a burden, and obsessing over the question of ‘Why am I this way?’ instead of understanding that people can change, the issues we face can be our greatest teachers and that vulnerability is not synonymous with weakness!”

Speaking further on Wayfinder, releasing next week, she continues, “For my whole life, music has been a crucial part of my identity and how I relate to the world. The act of making music has been my wayfinder during the past year”