Los-Angeles based artist Scout Willis’ music concerns itself with pleasure and self-discovery, accompanied by hints of psychology and myth. Her main source of inspiration? A life stationed in the overlap between artistry, style and culture.
Scout Willis is preoccupied with the elasticity of love on her latest single, “So Many Ways”. The Los Angeles-based artist stretches folk-pop into a sun-bleached meditation on the many forms romance can take. It forms part of a broader body of work concerned with pleasure and self-discovery, shaped in part by her studies of psychology and myth. She writes songs that search for connection and transformation, wrapping cinematic storytelling in atmospheric textures and easy-going melodic charm. There’s a lot to be musically enamoured by here. Her cotton-candy vocals sound like the love child of ‘70s singer-songwriter greats Karen Carpenter and Carly Simon, shapeshifting and wistful in a way that feels dipped in free-love romanticism. That open-heartedness makes sense considering the musical stew she grew up on. Patsy Cline, Beth Hart, Daft Punk, The Rolling Stones and The Coasters all find their way into her Americana-tinted sound. Whether opening Gabriela Hearst’s Chloé show with an original song during Paris Fashion Week or touring with Irish band Kingfishr and crossover royalty Maren Morris, Scout exists in the overlap between artistry, style and culture, where each informs the other without needing definition.
What’s your earliest memory of music having an effect on you?
My dad was really serious about the music education he gave me. I remember him showing me “I Am the Walrus” [by The Beatles], and he’d quickly tell me the line that was coming next so I could sing along with him and learn the words.
What does it mean to you to be original?
Feeling safe in my body so I can act from instinct and intuition, truly as my purest self, rather than being in my head wondering how I’m being perceived.
When did you last get in trouble?
I was recently seeing two people at the same time who were friends…I’m more of an “ask for forgiveness rather than permission” kind of girl, so…
What’s turning you on creatively right now?
Reading classics. I read whatever I want; fantasy, fiction, smut, British crime thrillers, anything and everything. Then, suddenly this year, I wanted to read only classics, and it’s been really turning me on to have to use my brain like that again. Especially The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence and Orlando by Virginia Woolf. The way Lawrence describes people’s interior worlds is so sensual, I understand why his books were once banned.
What’s been your greatest act of artistic rebellion?
Continuing to make music even though for a long, long time it wasn’t “going anywhere” or “taking off.” I approached playing a bar for 10 people like I was playing Madison Square Garden. I chose to radically enjoy the process, so I wasn’t waiting to be happy.
I love that Miley stands for…
Perseverance, integrity and compassion. She is an absolute pro, and I have always respected her so deeply.
WONDERLAND SUMMER 2026. GUEST EDITED BY MILEY CYRUS. SHOP NOW.
Photography Mario Sorrenti
Chief Creative Officer & Styling Alastair McKimm
Words Ella Bardsley
Hair Bob Recine
Make-up Diane Kendal
Set Design Philipp Haemmerle
Executive Producer Dana Brockman
Producer Max Bonbrest
Casting Alexandra Antonova for Samuel Ellis Scheinman
Lighting Technician Lars Beaulieu
1st Photo Assistant Kotaro Kawashima
Photo Assistants Paolo Afante, Kurt Mangum
Digital Tech Charles Meyer
Fashion Assistants Taylor Wood, Kassidy Taylor
Hair Assistant Jeelan Aleem
Make-up Assistants Eduardo Jiminez, Breanna Harmon
Set Assistants Oscar Haemmerle, Xavier Mozejewski
Production Assistant Din Morris