Songfacts®:

• In late 2019, Spoon began recording their 10th album at drummer Jim Eno's Public Hi-Fi studio in Austin, Texas. "The Hardest Cut" was the first song that vocalist Britt Daniel and guitarist Alex Fischel wrote after driving from LA to Texas. "He had some chords and then I came up with this sort of drop D riff that we called 'the Texas riff,' because that's what it sounded like to us," Daniel told NME. "We called the song 'Texas Riff' for a while, until I got some words to it."
  
  Daniel had always wanted to have a Spoon song that had the vibe of The Who's A Quick One track "Run Run Run." "So it was the combination of three things," the Spoon frontman added. "Alex's chords, my riff and 'Run Run Run'. And then we had it – 'The Hardest Cut.'"
• Asked by the UK newspaper The Sun what inspired "The Hardest Cut," Daniel said, "Maybe driving on the highway from LA to Austin. The song felt like Texas highway music to me."
• Spoon released "The Hardest Cut" as Lucifer On The Sofa's lead single on October 28, 2021. It topped Billboard's Adult Alternative Airplay Chart, becoming Spoon's third #1 and first since "Hot Thoughts" in 2017.
• New York-based singer-songwriter Caroline Rose croons the backing vocals. She also sings on Lucifer On The Sofa's title track.
• Impressed by Mark Rankin's production work with Adele and Queens of the Stone Age, Daniel invited him to co-produce Spoon's "No Bullets Spent" song for their 2019 Everything Hits at Once: The Best of Spoon album. They continued their partnership on Lucifer On The Sofa; Rankin co-produced eight out of the 10 tracks, including "The Hardest Cut."
• Britt Daniel and guitarist Gerardo Larios supplied the handclaps.