After a five-year pause, Cut Copy return not with reinvention, but refinement. Their new single, “Solid,” doesn’t reach for spectacle or rely on nostalgia. Instead, it shows a band in full command of their voice—a voice shaped by decades of clubland evolution, deep record digging, and emotional songwriting. This is not the sound of a group chasing relevance; it’s the sound of a group that never left the pocket. Released via Cutters Records and The Orchard, “Solid” acts as both a statement and a reminder: this band still knows exactly how to move a crowd without shouting.
Written during a time of personal transformation for frontman Dan Whitford, the song started as an instrumental but shifted shape mid-process. It now anchors around a mantra: “We’ll be solid.” Softly insistent, it rides on pulsing synths and subtle textures that don’t demand attention so much as reward it. The track lives in the space between reflection and movement, built to resonate in headphones and headline slots alike. Its companion vinyl release, which includes the exclusive B-side “A Decade Long Sunset,” gives longtime fans more to hold onto—physically and emotionally.
In this interview, Whitford opens up about staying grounded through cultural noise, how his relationship with comparison has changed, and why most great ideas come from surrendering control. It’s a portrait of an artist with nothing left to prove, still deeply curious, and still committed to finding that next unexpected wave to ride. Cut Copy aren’t trying to outdo the past—they’re showing what it looks like to stay inspired after the hype.
How do you stay focused on developing your sound instead of trying to keep up with trends or peers?
Honestly it’s always just been a case of following my own intuition with what I like and what might be interesting to explore. I don’t really consciously make an effort to develop a sound, because it just happens organically. I think whatever I do tends to have a Cut Copy watermark on it, just from spending time on it.
Even having my voice on something immediately makes it sound like Cut Copy. I guess that over time it’s become more and more recognisable. So if anything I spend my time looking for new sounds, instruments or approaches that might shake things up a bit and provide a new spark.
Have you ever found comparison useful—for motivation, maybe—or does it always derail you?
I guess earlier in Cut Copy’s existence I had more of a competitive streak where I’d think about who our peers were and wanted to strive to do better than them, or I’d compare with what others were doing.
But I think over time I feel more comfortable with what we’re doing creatively and just trying to make the best thing we can make rather than worrying about everyone else. So many artists we considered contemporaries 10 or 15 years ago have stopped making music or moved on to other things. I’m just grateful that we’re still doing what we’re doing.
How do you deal with comparison when everything about this scene is so public—charts, streams, lineups?
Honestly none of these things really define success for me. I never made a song thinking it would end up in the charts or have a certain number of streams. I know on some level that’s an indicator of people being into your music. But when I think about some of my favorite music, a lot of it wasn’t even successful when it came out. Like early techno, or obscure disco 12″s or Velvet Underground or something.
It became meaningful over time, and its influence slowly seeped into the culture. So I always hope that with Cut Copy we’ve kept true to our own principles and made art of a consistent standard that people can look back on and enjoy regardless of whether each song or album has loads of streams.
Have you had moments where seeing someone else win made you freeze up in your own process?
Not really, this has never affected me.
What helps you get back to your own lane when you catch yourself watching someone else too closely?
I think if you focus too much on someone else, then you’re probably not really in the moment, enjoying making your own music. For me this is the real buzz of making music, when you feel the rush of a new idea that’s going somewhere you haven’t anticipated and you’re like a surfer on that wave, trying to let it take you.
So yeah, if I was feeling a little too obsessed by someone else’s art, I’d probably go back to basics and just start a new song from scratch… basically I’d try to find a wave to catch!
Was there a specific mindset or habit that helped you stop wasting time comparing and start finishing more music?
One thing I always think about is that to make something great, you’ve gotta be prepared to fail. So I often think about that when I’m making music. Realistically only a very small percentage of song ideas that I write turn into actual finished Cut Copy songs. It’s probably less than one in ten or twenty.
And often the ones that make it have something bold about them, where I’ve gone fuck it, let’s try something completely unexpected and it’s somehow just worked. So to get to that point of success, you’ve gotta be prepared to churn out loads of ideas that don’t work and not get too bummed out about it. That’s just the process of being an artist I think.
What’s your approach to staying inspired by others without accidentally copying what they’re doing?
I think it’s great to listen to as much music as you want and get inspired. I was a music fan long before ever thinking of myself as a musician, so I get excited by listening to other artists and it probably subconsciously has influenced a lot of what I’ve written. But then when it comes to sitting down and making my own music, I put all of that to one side and try to find something that’s a bit more uniquely in my own voice.
The post Why Cut Copy Still Moves Differently—Even After Two Decades appeared first on Magnetic Magazine.