Cryptid Lyrics – Cavetown | from “Running With Scissors”

Cavetown’s Running With Scissors carves out a bolder, grittier path through the fog of self-doubt, landing January 16, 2026 via Futures Music Group, and Cryptid slinks in as that elusive mirror-gaze track, whispering about the monsters we hide in plain sight.

Robin Skinner, the bedroom-pop wizard behind Cavetown, crafts this one with co-producer Ryan Raines, layering fuzzy guitars and glitchy synths over his signature whisper-snarl vocals. It’s got that raw indie edge—think trail-cam static flickering into a chorus of digital delete buttons—but laced with folkier aches, like an old Polaroid warped by heat.

Thematically, it’s a feral takedown of self-sabotage and online hauntings: “I don’t look like that, that’s a cryptid,” he spits, flipping the monster myth into a mirror for those frosted-glass days when your reflection feels like a trap. It’s about clocking out from the hypocrisy scroll, biting your tongue till it bleeds, and reclaiming the freak in the frame—equal parts livid rant and weary shrug, with refrains that loop like earworm therapy.

Running With Scissors itself? It’s Skinner’s victory lap after worm food’s tender chaos—a concept album threading growth’s sharp edges, from toxic masculinity myths to vulnerable connections that stick. The tracklist sprawls invitingly: Skip kicks it off, followed by Cryptid, Rainbow Gal (that bubbly lead single out since September), Baby Spoon, NPC (the glitchy fourth teaser), Reaper, Straight Through My Head, and more, clocking around 35 minutes of sonic shape-shifting. Co-writes pepper the set—Ryan Raines on Skip and NPC, Couros on Baby Spoon, David Pramik on Rainbow Gal and Reaper—but Cryptid stays pure Cavetown, a lone wolf howl. Recorded in his Cambridge nook with bursts of London studio fire, it’s got that DIY heart upgraded with bolder mixes, proving he’s chasing the rush of teenage rock dreams without the wreckage.

Skinner’s stepping into 2026 like he owns the shadows, 28 and fiercer post-therapy glow-up, fresh off sold-out Meteor Tour legs that turned arenas into singalong sanctuaries. The non-binary trailblazer who built a cult from YouTube covers is ditching some whimsy for raw reckoning—queer anthems that hit harder, mental health truths that linger—while eyeing that massive Running With Scissors world tour with Pierce The Veil openers. It’s him saying: yeah, the scissors might slip, but the run feels right.

Dive into the Cryptid lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other Running With Scissors tracks for more of Cavetown’s introspective indie vibes.