Cutouts
Alex MacKay's darkwave outlet for growling bass and programmed drums
Based in Brooklyn, United States
Cutouts runs on growling bass, hard drum programming, shimmering or corroded synths and MacKay's sardonic lead vocal, moving from midtempo menace to dance-punk propulsion. The Paris set is likely to foreground the darker, grittier Horsehair material alongside the club-facing peaks of Snakeskin.
More about Cutouts
The project belongs to Brooklyn's overlap of indie bands, post-punk rooms and electronic production, with MacKay also playing bass in Nation of Language. He self-released Snakeskin after working as a producer for artists including CHAI, then followed it with Horsehair, connecting Goldfrapp's electro-pop to a Midnight Magic dub treatment.
Playing
- 2026-11-05 · Pitchfork Avant-Garde · POPUP! · POPUP!
Start here
- Horsehair (2026) · Cutouts
Two originals, a Goldfrapp cover and Midnight Magic's Cowgirl dub - Snakeskin (2025) · Cutouts
The full map of MacKay's darkwave, industrial and synth-pop palette
Worked with
- Tomberlin featured on Cowgirl
- Midnight Magic remixed Cowgirl
- Abe Seiferth co-produced and mixed Snakeskin and Rodeo
- Nation of Language MacKay's other band; Cutouts remixed Spare Me the Decision
For fans of
Nation of Language, Goldfrapp, Sextile, Cold Cave, Drab MajestyOfficial links
Pitchfork ParisBandcampSoundCloudInstagramWebsite
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