Singer/songwriter and actor Kat Cunning reminds us that standing out can be its own superpower in their breathtaking “Sore Thumb,” an achingly intimate, open-hearted anthem for anyone who’s ever felt punished for being visible.
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Stream: “Sore Thumb” – Kat Cunning
“I was born in a choke hold.”
Kat Cunning’s “Sore Thumb” begins with a gasp and grows into a reckoning.
Achingly intimate and quietly anthemic, the song is a tender indie pop reverie for anyone who’s ever felt punished for being visible – for being too loud, too strange, too much, too different, too alive to disappear.
A performer, writer, actor, and storyteller, Kat Cunning has long made art that feels both theatrical and deeply personal: cinematic, sensual, raw, and rooted in the body. Their 2025 EP Glass Jaw was bold and visceral, a genre-bending world of danger, desire, queer defiance, and radical joy. “Sore Thumb,” though, opens a softer door. Released in February, it’s a return to simple, honest storytelling – warm lower tones, spacious production, and a vocal performance that doesn’t need to climb toward spectacle to leave a mark. It glows from within.
I was born in a choke hold
Found my feet each time I stumbled
Now I trip on my tongue, oh
Art of being not so subtle
Like the sun reflectin’ off a traffic light
An extended hand just asking for a ride
“These songs are the proof of my life,” Cunning tells Atwood Magazine. “I love when they find people who feel represented by them, especially the queers and the freaks like me. I write stories I can’t help but tell, and sing to remind myself to breathe. I want my music to be a friend to you, or a room you feel safe dancing in.”
That sense of refuge sits at the heart of “Sore Thumb,” a song Cunning calls an “understated lowkey pride anthem.” Written in their first session with Anna Schulz, the track is about coming to terms with not fitting in – and learning to love that difference as a natural superpower, even when the world tries to punish you for standing up or sticking out. The lyrics move with bruised grace: “I tried to fix what was broken / Tried to quiet what was loud / But I’m stickin’ out.” It’s a line that aches because it knows the cost of self-erasure; it’s a line that heals because it refuses to stay small.
I’m sticking out like a sore thumb
Here in the company no one
Yeah, I’m so precious and broken, oh I
Got em goin’ now
I’m stickin’ out like a sore thumb
Got their attention I hold em
I tried to fix what was broken
Tried to quiet what was loud
But I’m stickin’ out
“I’ve had big curly blonde hair since I was born and I have always attracted attention,” Cunning shares. “While growing up, that attention came with misaligned assumptions, fetishization and reprimanding of who I am perceived to be. I had to grow a very keen understanding of my identity, especially as a queer person.”
“‘Sore Thumb’ is about learning that being different is a superpower. When you stand out from the crowd, people are looking at you. You can either spend your life wishing for invisibility or accept the responsibility of speaking up for people who can’t speak for themselves.”
That transformation – from exposure into agency, from wound into light – gives the song its smoldering pulse. Cunning doesn’t sing “Sore Thumb” like a victory lap; they sing it like a truth they’re still learning how to hold. “One of these is not alike / Fallen fruit bitter to the bite / In an apple orchard I’m the orange / In a batch of roses I’m the thorn / I’m the neon in the night,” they sing, turning alienation into image after image of vivid, unruly beauty. Their voice is warm and close, the drums distant and steady, the arrangement rising with what Cunning calls an “undulating growth” – never rushing, never forcing, just slowly filling the room until the loneliness feels almost sacred.
One of these is not alike
Fallen fruit bitter to the bite
In an apple orchard I’m the orange
In a batch of roses im the thorn
I’m the Neon in the night
“Anna and I really wanted the song to have an undulating growth,” they explain. “I like songs that don’t shove themselves at me. Rather, I like the ones that get under my skin and move my water crystals. This song invited me to write is at the pace Anna orchestrated in the warm, lower tones that don’t compete with my range. The drums feel epic, but they stay out of my way like a cavalry appearing on a distant hill. It’s a relationship to space that feels epic and alone.”
That space matters. It lets every ache breathe. It lets Cunning’s words settle into the skin, especially when they speak to the reality of living between categories – in genre, in gender, in life – and eventually deciding to stop begging for belonging. “The thing about having nowhere to sit, is you have to stand out,” they say. “Eventually you stop trying to ask for a seat at the table. You climb on top of it and put on a show.”
“I’m nonbinary but I’m a shape shifter. I’ve been too much or too little of something for all of my original dreams, but I’m a moving target and whatever you think I am, there’s more to it.”
“I think most people are this dynamic they just choose to water things down for the ease of belonging in a society. I want to live in a society where less people do that. I want a whole hand of Sore Thumbs.”
“Sore Thumb” is gorgeous because it doesn’t pretend sticking out stops hurting.
It simply insists that hurt doesn’t have to be the end of the story. Kat Cunning turns visibility into tenderness, vulnerability into presence, and difference into a room big enough for the queers, the freaks, the misfits, the shapeshifters, and anyone else still learning how to love the parts of themselves the world tried to quiet. In its soft heat and open-hearted ache, “Sore Thumb” stands out exactly as it should – radiant, wounded, brave, and beautifully alive.
Kat Cunning recently sat down with Atwood Magazine to discuss the stories, self-recognition, and hard-won space behind “Sore Thumb” – and what it means to stop asking for a seat at the table and climb on top of it instead. Read our conversation below, and let this breathtaking song remind you that being too alive to disappear is its own superpower.
I’m stickin’ out like a sore thumb
Here in the company no one
Yeah, I’m so precious and broken,
oh I got em goin’ now
I’m stickin’ out like a sore thumb
Got their attention I hold em
I tried to fix what was broken
Tried to quiet what was loud
but I’m stickin’ out
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:: stream/purchase Sore Thumb here ::
:: connect with Kat Cunning here ::
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Stream: “Sore Thumb” – Kat Cunning
A CONVERSATION WITH KAT CUNNING
Atwood Magazine: Kat, I’ve obviously been a fan of yours for years, but for those who are just discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?
Kat Cunning: I’m a performer, writer and storyteller at my core and these songs are the proof of my life. I love when they find people who feel represented by them, especially the queers and the freaks like me. I write stories I can’t help but tell, and sing to remind myself to breathe. I want my music to be a friend to you, or a room you feel safe dancing in.
Who are some of your musical north stars, and what are you most excited about the music you're making today?
Kat Cunning: Florence, James Blake, Lana Del Rey, Fiona Apple, Nina Simone, FKA Twigs, Jeff Buckley. I’m moved by people who allow for a rawness in their voice and writing.
I’m in the process of writing a second album for which I have been awarded the Record in BC grant and right now I’m super inspired by artists like Dijon who allow for the live feel of the room to inform the texture of the song. I’m having so much fun with the musicians in Canada recording in the iconic Hipposonic studios and allowing myself to experiment with more organic instrumentation. There’s going to be harp on the record, live drums and guitar. I’m working with my long time collaborator Elliott Beenk and the brilliant Brian West. We laid out 100 songs on little ripped up pieces of paper and killed them off one by one- the last ones standing are a mixture of classic, brilliantly written songs, and fun cheeky stories I need to tell.
I’m trusting myself as an artist overall, more. My last record, Glass Jaw, felt like the accumulation of years of learning my instrument. I loved pushing my voice to top of my range, but now I am returning to writing songs that most people can sing. I Can’t Make You Love Me, End of the World, Man I Need, The Dress… I love the songs that feel like they were spoken to someone… universal conversations.
You’ve said that “Sore Thumb” is about coming to terms with the fact that you don’t fit in, and learning to hone and love that natural superpower “even when the world tries to punish you for standing up, or sticking out.” I can relate all too well to this sentiment – my inner child feels very seen and very heard here. What's the story behind your latest song?
Kat Cunning: I’ve had big curly blonde hair since I was born and I have always attracted attention. While growing up, that attention came with misaligned assumptions, fetishization and reprimanding of who I am perceived to be. I had to grow a very keen understanding of my identity, especially as a queer person.
“Sore Thumb” is about learning that being different is a superpower. When you stand out from the crowd, people are looking at you. You can either spend your life wishing for invisibility or accept the responsibility of speaking up for people who can’t speak for themselves.
“Sore Thumb” is the product of my first session with Anna Schulz who was introduced to me by my longtime friend and mentor Kasey Truman, and though I entered the session with an open mind, I didn’t expect much to come from day one. Thenceforth came this understated lowkey pride anthem. I love it. It opened my heart to the next chapter of my writing.
You dedicated this track to anyone who feels threatened for being different today – which I also deeply appreciate. What does the act of “sticking out like a sore thumb” mean for you, personally?
Kat Cunning: It means garnering attention and learning how to use it for good. I often feel at once like I am trying to figure out where to sit at the cafeteria at lunch; in genre, in gender and in my life… The thing about having nowhere to sit, is you have to stand out. Eventually you stop trying to ask for a seat at the table. You climb on top of it and put on a show.
I’m nonbinary but I’m a shapeshifter. I’ve been too much or too little of something for all of my original dreams, but I’m a moving target and whatever you think I am, there’s more to it.
I think most people are this dynamic they just choose to water things down for the ease of belonging in a society. I want to live in a society where less people do that. I want a whole hand of Sore Thumbs.
I was hooked on this from the song's very first line – “I was born in a choke hold.” Can you tell me about this lyric, and what it means to you?
Kat Cunning: I really was born in a choke hold, with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. I was born blue. Been teasing death since I was born! I wanted to start the song that way to invite people who feel that they have faced adversity from the beginning… but ya… it’s just a fact.
I’d love to talk about the chorus’s message as well – “I tried to fix what was broken, tried to quiet what was loud, but I’m stickin’ out.” It’s true, the louder we are, the more we can find ourselves ostracized – and just for speaking up for ourselves or others. Sticking out hurts, but this song certainly soothes some of that pain. How do you interpret the chorus, listening back to it now?
Kat Cunning: I shape-shift and use my powers for good now but especially as a nonbinary person it’s hard to look at some of the old photos of me trying to wear the costume of femininity to perform alignment with my gender. It’s a fun costume to me now but back then I was really stifling something and it hurts me to see in retrospect.
Sonically – and emotionally, I suppose – “Sore Thumb” is utterly soul-stirring. What was your vision going into it, and how did you go about bringing that to life in the studio?
Kat Cunning: Anna and I really wanted the song to have an undulating growth. I like songs that don’t shove themselves at me. Rather, I like the ones that get under my skin and move my water crystals. This song invited me to write is at the pace Anna orchestrated in the warm, lower tones that don’t compete with my range. The drums feel epic but they stay out of my way like a cavalry appearing on a distant hill. It’s a relationship to space that feels epic and alone.
What do you hope listeners take away from “Sore Thumb,” and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?
Kat Cunning: I’m so stoked to say it was featured in NBC’s High Potential! Such an incredible placement that brought so many ears to the song right as I was learning I would be playing Clare, a savant FBI agent in the new NBC pilot “Protection.” I am loving the NBC fanbase over all and the reception from my die hard fans is super affirming of the fact that ‘Sore Thumb’ is a return to the thing people gravitated towards in the beginning- simple, honest storytelling with production that gives you the space to feel something.
In the spirit of paying it forward, who are you listening to these days that you would recommend to our readers?
Kat Cunning: Not that she needs the hype having won this year, but I cannot get enough of the Olivia Dean record. It is such timeless classic writing and I am so comforted to know people are ready for that in the wake of the BRAT craze! I love pop as much as the next guy but we haven’t had a brilliant simple contemporary soul record in a while! Hannah Jadagu has also been on nonstop in our house cus she so beautifully captures the feeling of being long distance.
Look for me on NBC’s “Protection” and stay tuned on Instagram and Spotify @katcunning for updates on the new album and the next couple films coming out soon!
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:: stream/purchase Sore Thumb here ::
:: connect with Kat Cunning here ::
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Stream: “Sore Thumb” – Kat Cunning
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