S1E8: Claw Your Way Out (Modern Moxie) Artwork

Songs Never Heard

A craft podcast that spotlights some of the best songs you've never heard.

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Songs Never Heard

S1E8: Claw Your Way Out (Modern Moxie)

September 21, 2025 • Robert Howell • Season 1 • Episode 8

A little tune from "hum world" that evolved into an anthem for personal transformation.

Claw Your Way Out on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0fIlEMDDEJnVf4f3b9tjgX

More Modern Moxie music:

Bandcamp: https://modernmoxie.bandcamp.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ejPoj7wPhQBi2R24JqcZk

Robert Howell:

My name is Robert Howell, and in this series I'll be sharing, and digging into, some of my favorite songs that I've come across while in, and exploring, the underground songwriting scene. Songs written by talented people who are creating music that deserves wider recognition. Songs that, unfortunately, most of the world may never hear.

Welcome to Songs Never Heard.

What began is what the songwriter calls "a little tune I would hum," evolved into something much more powerful. A song with such driving energy that it feels like it could propel you straight out of whatever you might be stuck in. Let's hear "Claw Your Way Out" by Modern Moxie.

Modern Moxie:

I’m doing this the only way I know how, way I know how

If you don’t mind, I’d like to take you for a ride

Whoa oh oh ohhhh oh oh, oh oh

Old news and memories just claw your way out, claw your way out

Old town and energies, claw your way out, claw your way out

When the stars align, you’ll fight the monsters you designed

You’re the mastermind, initiate the perfect landslide

Whoa oh oh ohhhh oh oh, oh oh

Oh you’ve got a feeling, writing on the ceiling

Start your healing, face your demons

Old news and memories just claw your way out, claw your way out

Old town and energies just claw your way out, claw your way out

When the stars align, you’ll fight the monsters you designed

You’re the mastermind, initiate the perfect landslide

Whoa oh oh ohhhh oh oh, oh oh

Run, run, run, run away,

run, run, run, run, run away

Run, run, run, run, away

Run outrun yesterday

Run, run, run, run, away

Run outrun yesterday

Robert Howell:

You've just heard "Claw Your Way Out" by Madison Lucas and her band, Modern Moxie. Madison is the primary songwriter and lead vocalist for Modern Moxie, and if you felt that relentless forward momentum when you heard it, you are experiencing exactly what Madison intended. That driving energy isn't something that emerged during the song's production. As Madison puts it, " I've always danced when I sing it, so I would say it was even hype in the hum stage."

The "hum stage" is Madison's term for when a song exists only as a melody in her head, before lyrics or instruments get involved. For "Claw Your Way Out," that energetic foundation was there from the very beginning. The song literally started as something that made her move, and that kinetic quality became one of its defining characteristics.

Live audiences have confirmed what Madison felt from day one. "That song has done nothing but go harder every time we play it," she laughs, "we have to carefully guard that tempo because we can blast off if we're not careful. If no one has danced for an entire show, I'm confident we can bust that one out and get them going."

The phrase 'claw your way out' carries a lot of physical desperation and urgency. But Madison's path to that title was through refinement rather than inspiration. "The very first version was 'crawl your way out,' which did not fit the vibe of the song at all," she recalls, "I later changed it to 'claw your way out,' which felt more emotionally appropriate."

That evolution from 'crawl' to 'claw' is substantial. Crawling suggests weakness, submission, maybe even defeat. But clawing implies fierce determination or refusal to give up, despite the difficulty. It's the difference between resignation and rebellion. Between victim and fighter.

Madison was writing from a place where that distinction mattered deeply. She was addressing anyone " that feels trapped in a small, rural town," she said. But more personally, she was talking to herself during a period when she needed every ounce of fierce determination she could muster.

The repetitive structure of "Claw Your Way Out" isn't accidental, and it definitely isn't lazy songwriting. It's intentional psychology. Madison explains her decision to repeat phrases like a mantra. "I know I certainly have to hear advice more than once. I'm sure I was yelling at myself in this song to get my shit together."

Madison has been alcohol free for three years, and even though she was "in a brand new life," as she put it when she wrote "Claw Your Way Out," she says, "My poor brain still lived within the trauma of my former life," adding, " my addiction cast a giant shadow over my entire creative experience. It felt completely inescapable at the time, and it definitely bled into every song I worked on."

This repetition works perfectly with the song's central theme. The repeated lyrics mirror how we might talk to ourselves when we're trying to change. Trying to break free from old patterns. " It's about having the strength to let go of the stories you've been telling about yourself," Madison says.

"Claw Your Way Out" isn't just a song about struggle, it's a song about the possibility of change.

Behind the driving baseline and hooky guitar riffs of "Claw Your Way Out" lies an instrument with a name and a story. Madison calls her Korg Minilogue synthesizer. Kylie Minilogue, a play on the name of famous Australian singer, songwriter, and actress Kylie Minogue. And Kylie, the synthesizer, definitely adds to the sonic character of the song. But the choice of synth sound wasn't based on musical theory or careful consideration of eighties influences. It came from something more personal.

"My favorite number is 11," Madison explains, "so I tried that preset. It's called 'Stabber,' and I loved it immediately."

The fact that a synthesizer preset called 'Stabber' became an essential element in a song about clawing your way out of difficult circumstances, feels almost too perfect to be coincidental. But Madison's creative process seems to work this way. Following intuition rather than making calculated decisions.

That Kylie Minilogue sound discovered randomly through numerical obsession, gives "Claw Your Way Out" a unique sound that also carries the echoes of eighties alternative energy.

In my time around songwriting communities, I've noticed that many writers talk about lyrics needing to "show," rather than just "tell." Madison's approach reveals a songwriter who understands that difference. Take the line 'writing on the ceiling.' Rather than singing directly about hope or possibility, she created an image that lets listeners interpret those concepts for themselves. As Madison decoded for me, it's about " noticing signs that point to a different alternative future that you could create."That kind of imagery draws you in as a listener in a way that's simply stating 'there's hope for the future' never could.

Similarly, 'you’re the mastermind,' and 'monsters you designed' work together to address personal responsibility without being preachy. "We forget that we're in control of who we are," Madison explains, "the suffering and pain in our lives can teach us if we're open to alchemizing the trauma into something new."

The word alchemizing perfectly captures medicine's lyrical approach. She's not just describing trauma or difficulty, she's transforming it into something that can help both herself and others move forward. The monsters we design can be redesigned. The stories we tell about ourselves can be rewritten.

Madison's voice carries the song with an unusual freedom and playfulness that align well with its empowering message. "My voice is definitely my favorite instrument to play with. She says, I try to let myself go and just do what I feel needs to happen. Not something I really think about. It's more of a flow state. I feel very free within my voice."

That freedom is illustrated by her willingness to stretch syllables across multiple beats, to add warbles and vocal flourishes that give the song personality beyond the lyrics. It's the sound of someone who's learned to express herself without reservation, which perfectly matches a song about breaking free from limitation.

When "Claw Your Way Out" reaches audiences, Madison gets to witness that freedom spreading. " Nothing makes me happier than seeing beautiful people jump around while we get to play music. Every time it happens. I nearly cry." Madison said. The song that started in Madison's 'hum world' as a personal anthem, has become a catalyst for collective joy and uninhibited expression.

Madison describes each of Modern Moxie's songs as its own little musical world, and says "Claw Your Way Out" comes from 'Dance Synth Planet.' The song that emerged from Medicine's 'hum world' wasn't designed to fit any particular genre or scene. She wasn't trying to recreate eighties synth pop or follow alternative rock formulas.Instead, she followed her instincts at each step. A preset numbered 11 on Kylie Minilogue, because that's her favorite number. Hand claps, because she loves sixties hand claps, telling me jokingly that she tries to work them into almost every song. And repetitive lyrics because that's how she needed to talk to herself at the time.

The result defies easy categorization. It's got the driving energy of punk, the melodic hooks of pop, the sonic backdrop of electronic music, and the emotional honesty of folk. Madison wasn't calculating any of this. She was simply doing what she 'calls the only way I know how.'

That authenticity, that refusal to construct something artificial, gives "Claw Your Way Out" its power to connect with audiences who find themselves dancing almost involuntarily. Madison wrote it while clawing her way toward a better life, and now it exists to help others do the same.

“Songs Never Heard" is created and produced by me, Robert Howell. It's a tribute to all the seldom heard music that, in my opinion, rivals what you'd hear on the popular charts. If you're interested in having one of your songs featured, drop me a note at rrobhowell@gmail.com.

Until next time, keep writing.