[7] Signed to Reprise Records by her old acquaintance Howie Klein, Houston composed six new songs, while adding more instrumentation to her rerecorded older ones.

"[4] Trouser Press deemed the album "a solid cross-section of her material ... the playing and recording quality are absolutely vibrant and Houston sings as wonderfully as ever.

"[13] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "'Locket' glides along to a Latin-tinged beat while the title track, with its light country twang and darkly comic lyric, evokes a vindictive, post-punk incarnation of Patsy Cline.

"[16] The Washington Post determined that "what's most impressive about Cut You is Houston's vivid depictions of women who are attempting to square their reality with sometimes fading desires and dreams.

"[19] AllMusic wrote that the album "offers proof that Houston helped pioneer the melodic-yet-hard-hitting alternative rock currently mined by such performers as Liz Phair and Aimee Mann.