Tarmac Lyrics – Cavetown | from “Running With Scissors”

Cavetown‘s dipping back into that raw, tangled heartspace with Running With Scissors, his full-length album hitting shelves January 16, 2026, via Futures Music Group, and Tarmac pulls you right into the sticky rush of wanting what you know might wreck you.

This track, dropped as a single back in October, clocks in around three minutes of that signature Cavetown blend—soft indie pop laced with lo-fi edges and a subtle electronic hum that builds like a quiet storm. It’s got this mid-tempo sway, all fingerpicked guitars and breathy vocals that layer over a driving bass pulse, pulling from bedroom folk roots but with a sharper, more urgent bite. Co-written with Orla Gartland, Tarmac spills out like a late-night confession, chasing themes of intrusive thoughts and emotional overload. Those lyrics hit hard on craving the forbidden—sweet like tarmac, roadkill rescue vibes—mirroring that push-pull of love’s mess, where you salivate over the bad stuff you can’t spit out, all while begging it not to end. It’s vulnerability dialed up, turning personal chaos into something you can hum along to.

Slotting in as track eight on Running With Scissors, Tarmac threads into an album that’s all about carving out your own shape amid the noise. The 13-song set dives deep into growth and identity, wrestling with masculinity, self-doubt, and the quiet wins of showing up as your trans self—think raw confessions wrapped in catchy hooks that don’t shy from the heavy. It opens with the glitchy “Skip,” rolls through playful jabs like “Baby Spoon” and “Rainbow Gal” (both out as singles already), hits anxious peaks in “NPC” and “Reaper,” then softens with collabs like Chloe Moriondo on the breezy “Sailboat.” The title track closes it out, a fitting nod to living dangerously close to the edge. Fans are already sharing teaser snippets and mood boards on Cavetown’s socials, building that cozy anticipation.

Right now, Robin Skinner’s in this sweet spot of evolution, fresh off 2022’s Worm Food and a string of sold-out tours that turned his TikTok-fueled breakout into something stadium-sized. But Running With Scissors feels like a pivot back to basics—less polished, more like eavesdropping on his journal—channeling those early DIY days into bigger questions about holding on without cutting yourself open.

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