Night Street Records/Interscope RecordsWhen K.Flay wrote her new single "Blood in the Cut," it was Christmastime, she was at her family's house "hanging out" while also feeling "kind of sad." However, when the song, which currently sits in the top 10 at Alternative radio, came together a few months later, the musician, born Kristine Flaherty, found herself writing from a different emotional place.
"It was kinda an interesting thing, 'cause typically I'll write a song and then finish it pretty shortly thereafter," Flaherty tells ABC Radio. "But this, there was like a little bit of time in between, which I think was good because by the time we recorded it, I was in a much more powerful, happy place."
"Blood in the Cut" certainly retains a certain harshness, though, as evidenced by its title. As Flaherty explains, the track's central metaphor isn't an image of violence or "bleeding out" -- "that sounds terrifying," she says -- but of "catharsis."
"If blood sort of symbolizes an emotional experience, the more you can participate in that and feel that, the more you start to have control over it," she says.
Sonically, "Blood in the Cut" pulls from a lot of influences, from hip-hop to industrial rock. In particular, Flaherty took notes from Nine Inch Nails, The Kills and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
"[They are all] bands that I've loved, and I feel like, especially with someone like Nine Inch Nails, it's like they occupy a lot of spaces simultaneously and over periods of time, which is really compelling to me," she says.
"Blood in the Cut" is a track from K.Flay's new EP Crush Me, which is out now.
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