In a world of unrelenting extremes, where a person can speedrun the full range of human emotion just scrolling through their feed in bed, it’s easy to feel adrift. Amid the swirling storm of overwhelming questions about who we are, what we want, and what the future is going to look like, our personal relationships with other people quietly carry on, themselves a source of uncertainty and overwhelm. Standing beside you in the parasocial realm of abstract ideas and concrete comforts, sipping on a tropical beverage as you stare at the dumpster fire together, is Penelope Scott. The singer, songwriter, and producer absorbs the mania and magnificence of Gen Z life in her expansive, entrancing, and extreme musical vision equally steeped in tender acoustic balladry and hyperpop paroxysms. Gathering hundreds of millions of streams and receiving widespread acclaim from Billboard and more, she showcases both sides of her sound on the 2023 double-EP, Girl’s Night and Mysteries for Rats. “When I was making the project, I realized there was a split down the middle,” she reveals. “Half of the songs are in the more acoustic folky style, and the other half are computerized synth sounds. So, I decided to do multiple EPs. It gives people different options and flavors already sorted out for them.” She hopes you enjoy the tunes.