Songs for Sabotage – “Cuts You Up”

Showing a richly reverberating rock sound with ’80s nostalgia, “Cuts You Up” is a new single from Songs for Sabotage, a cover of the original from Peter Murphy. The duo is comprised of musicians Lina Sophie and Richey Rose, who met in the fall of 2017 at Brooklyn bar Night of Joy. Following several self-produced singles, the duo relocated to Rose’s hometown of Lexington, KY, where they completed their first full-length album, Night of Joy. They are now based in Los Angeles.

The album’s closing track, “Cuts You Up” is nicely representative of the duo’s confident rock aesthetic. Ranging from soaring, anthemic tracks like “Urgency” to twangy contemplatives like “Dust,” the album touts quality range. “Cuts You Up” shows a familiar vein of rock with an ’80s tint, led by hooky anthemic moments like 01:50, which beautifully evolves into a tender guitar display.

“We wrote and recorded these songs in Richey’s old Ludlow Street apartment and also at our former rehearsal spot in DUMBO,” the duo says. “They were conceived during what would become our final year in the city, though we didn’t realize it at the time. Night of Joy is our version of melancholy New York; the empty subway ride at 3 am, feeling used by never-ending nightlife, or cursing someone’s name while being caught in a downpour with a shitty umbrella. Our attitudes have changed since then, but they were definitely captured on tape here.”

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“Cuts You Up” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of September 2020’ Spotify playlist.