Scout Paré-Phillips Unveils New Single ‘Claw’

With “Claw,” Scout Paré-Phillips delivers a striking and unflinching introduction to her third solo album Lupine Daughter, reaffirming her position as one of New York’s most distinctive and uncompromising songwriters. Already known for her work in post-punk country duo The Sterling Sisters and later collaborations with Jack White, Paré-Phillips channels that wide-ranging experience into something more intimate yet fiercely direct. Featured on All Songs Considered, the track arrives with a sense of weight and intent that matches its subject matter.

Built around her custom baritone guitar, “Claw” unfolds as a slow, heavy burn, layered with cello, pedal steel, and restrained percussion that never soften its emotional impact. Written in the aftermath of a lupus diagnosis and the loss of her father to complications from autoimmune disease, the song grapples openly with mortality and endurance without slipping into sentimentality. Its arrangement feels deliberately exposed, as if every note is being carefully placed to hold up the emotional gravity at its core.

As a lead single from Lupine Daughter, “Claw” signals a new peak in Paré-Phillips’ artistic evolution—one defined by clarity, confrontation, and control. The accompanying video, conceived through still photography, extends that vision by contrasting stillness and performance, fragility and persistence. It’s a demanding but deeply compelling listen, and one that lingers long after it ends, underscoring an artist fully in command of her most personal material yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtd347kv4gA