7.0 Beautiful & Nostalgic
When I set out to review the Gen Z sensation Robin Skinner aka Cavetown’s 2026 release Running With Scissors, I admittedly did not know what I was getting into. Let me be upfront: I am late to the Cavetown game, which is embarrassing considering he has over 5.4 million monthly Spotify listeners at the time of this writing and has six studio albums. Alas, I need to listen to more queer artists!
I am here though and I have listened! I want to come into this review with some notable production and songwriting credits to mention: the great Orla Gartland on Tarmac and a few co-production credits by Ryan Raines, who has worked with Dominik Fike and BENEE. Other production credits include David Pramik and Couros (Louis the Child) and Underscores (an electronic music producer), the latter making a lot of sense with the digital synth sounds heavily influencing the album.
I started listening in album order with the song “Skip,” which started off ethereal, with actual skipping rhythms and a light pulse of electronic drums in the background. Electronic sounds were folded into the acoustic landscape, accompanied by repetitive layered vocals that lull the listener into a sense of comfort.
The album seamlessly moved into “Cryptid.” I wasn’t even sure I was there! I had to go back to my media player to make sure the next song had started! At first I was like, “what a subtle mood shift!” But, no. Major mood shift in lyrical nature here from the love song of “Skip” about butterflies and skipping when you’re in love to “flick that thumb, down with the sickness.” Yeah, we’ve moved along.
“Rainbow Gal” moved in with more space between songs. There were lots of digital sounds here, which were appropriate for the song. The vocals still gave an ethereal feel. The hook was stripped down, while the chorus literally sounded like a video game character. I was hip to the Super Mario-esque sounds tucked into the music. Very cool! The outro was the layered chorus.
“Baby Spoon” opened up with acoustic guitar work and a thumping drum beat. There was a great use of white space in this song. The chorus sounded plush with the layered vocals and the slightly distorted bass, which dropped off in the prechorus. These intimate lyrics drew me closer to the artist. The synth sounds came in for a solo at the end and definitely made a groovy feel! Love the repeating “It doesn’t have to be so hard.” I think it showed Cavetown’s vocal chops with the slight vibrato.
“NPC” has a rhythmic clean electric guitar start, but gives way to a more pop sounding song. Cavetown is singing in a lower register here. The chorus is definitely aiming for a pop-rock feel, with the electric guitars and the distorted vocal filter. The modulating video game synth sounds add to the song. The second chorus is stripped down to just guitar and vocals, which is a nice contrast for what is about to come, which is a full on electric rock guitar bridge. This song is the highlight of the album. It feels familiar for a song about the unfamiliar.
“Reaper” has these beautiful waterfall arpeggios to start. Vocals come in, then bass and heartbeat, then synths. The heavily filtered chorus is an interesting artistic choice, as it breaks up some of the monotony of the album. Whoever is playing that nasty sliding bass needs a raise. The distorted guitars at the end are great and the hard rock inspired outro is what the album needs to not be boring.
“Straight Through My Head (DO IT!!!)” comes in with a slow soothing vocal, interrupted by synthy, punchy guitars, reminiscent of the parasite written about. The sustained note of the bridge is very cool. The chaotic chorus of instrumental menagerie gives way to an electric guitar rhythm jam section, which is way cool. This is just a section of jamming crunchy guitars with a little, dare I say jazz influence? This song structure was hard to parse, but I enjoyed the jam.
“Tarmac” starts with acoustic guitar of slightly new tone here. Cavetown is singing slightly higher in register here. The ooohs and ahhhhs of the vocals ensure this song will have a sweet vibe. It delivered early as bop, even with that scream at the end of the chorus, which, by the way, I love! The “chordsy” chorus (by this I mean not riffy and you just have to know what I mean by that), makes for one helluva pop song. I love how the music actually follows the lyrical suggestion of “what goes up must do back down.” Very sweet song.
“No Bark No Bite” is a fingerstyle acoustic song. The bass fits nicely in the background and the chords fit nicely with the lyrics. The soft padding, the beats coming in with the chorus, the soft vocals, and the short length all create a nice bite of a song.
“Micha” has nice vocal effects and I like the chord progression of the song. The dreamy guitar filter makes sense for the song, as does the marching drum pattern. The panned layered vocals are a nice effect. Did I hear marimba in this song? I hope so? It could be an arpeggiator. I like the separate double vocal in the bridge. Despite the profound lyrical concept, this is not the highlight song of the album. I feel like it adds minimal to the project as a whole.
“Sailboat” comes on fast with distorted, synthy guitars cutting right into the mix. We’ve got Chloe Moriondo on background vocals up front. This song has a clear pop-punk vibe, with a faster tempo than many of the other songs. It stays in brand with electronica sounds tucked underneath the punk guitars. The bass really rumbles in this song.
“First Time” has driving drums and heavily distorted vocals. This is a rock song that features an eclectic guitar solo (Yay!). It’s a nice little rock bite!
The title track “Running With Scissors” begins with acoustic guitar down strums and a clean bass that follows the rhythm of the lyrics. There is a very nice use of rhyme in this song. Full instrumentation comes in with the second verse. We get a second guitar solo to round out this song and the album as a whole.
Overall, this album is very well done. It is a good mix of pop and rock sounds and makes me feel a mix of nostalgia and familiarity for both a love and space I have always craved. The instrumentation does a nice service to the lyrics. I enjoyed the looser structure of some of the songs, especially when the songs seem to almost change genre or go off on jam sessions. I’m glad we got guitar solos on the album. The lyrics are beautiful, but not all that deep to me and there were moments where I wish Cavetown would dig deeper poetically to contribute more lyrically. Make no mistake, this album is beautiful.
Song Highlights
- NPC
- Baby Spoon
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