"Always Got the Love" is a song by Australian alt-pop group Cub Sport. The song premiered on Triple J and was released on 14 June 2022.[1] It is the lead single from the group’s fifth studio album, Jesus at the Gay Bar.
| "Always Got the Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Cub Sport | ||||
| from the album Jesus at the Gay Bar | ||||
| Released | 14 June 2022 | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Cub Sport, Believe | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Tim Nelson, Simon Lam | |||
| Producer(s) | Tim Nelson, Simon Lam | |||
| Cub Sport singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Upon release the group's lead singer Tim Nelson said "I've always felt like the songs that people can cry to are important but I think being able to celebrate and move is equally important and that's kind of where I'm at right now. I wanna make music that makes people feel uplifted."[2] Additionally, Nelson told Triple J, "I've written a lot about the queer struggle and it was time to write something that felt like queer celebration. That's the inspiration for this song. It was just the song that I felt I wanted to hear through lockdown... Something that felt uplifting."[1]
At the AIR Awards of 2023, the song was nominated for Independent Song of the Year and won Best Independent Dance, Electronica or Club Single.[3][4]
Background
editCub Sport's lead singer Tim Nelson said he wrote "Always Got the Love" with Simon Lam (of Kllo)[2] in Melbourne on 23 March 2021, the day after his husband and the band's keyboardist Sam Netterfield's birthday. Nelson said the lyrics were inspired following a day at Hyam Beach that he and Netterfield went on in February 2021 saying "I'd been feeling pretty down around that time but this day at the beach I just felt so good. I remember being in the water thinking, 'I wanna try capture this energy in a song so I can hold onto it'. 'Always Got the Love' ended up becoming that song."[5] Nelson and Lam also co-produced the track.[2]
Music video
editThe Jack Birtles-directed video depicts the band members at a warehouse party, with drummer Dan Puusaari DJ-ing. Nelson and guitarist Zoe Davis are dancers, while Netterfield arrives at the party on a motorcycle.[6]
Reception
editAl Newstead from Triple J called it "an uplifting banger" saying, "[Tim] nailed the brief, wrapping his expressive voice around sumptuous house piano and a two-step beat that would perfectly soundtrack a beach rave in the middle of a European summer."[1]
Leigh Andrew Hill from Out in Perth said "the track is powered by an effervescent two-step beat and frontman Tim Nelson's radiant falsetto" and called it "pure unadulterated joy".[7]
Track listings
editDigital download/streaming
- "Always Got the Love" (Tim Nelson, Simon Lam) – 3:27
Digital download/streaming
- "Always Got the Love" (jamesjamesjames remix) (Nelson, James Ivey) – 4:04
- "Always Got the Love" (Big Miz remix) (Nelson, Chris MacFarlane) – 3:18
- "Always Got the Love" (Big Miz remix - extended) (Nelson, MacFarlane) – 4:03
Digital download/streaming
- "Got the Love" (Tim Shiel and Cub Sport remix) – 3:57
References
edit- ^ a b c "Cub Sport enter new era with euphoric banger 'Always Got The Love'". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. June 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ a b c Fuamoli, Sosefina (14 June 2022). "Cub Sport Shine with Release of New Single, 'Always Got the Love'". Music Feeds. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Nominees Announced for the Australian Independent Music Awards 2023". Music Feeds. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ^ "King Stingray and Genesis Owusu Win Big at 2023 AIR Awards". Music Feeds. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
- ^ "Track by Track: Cub Sport Break Down 'Jesus at the Gay Bar'". Rolling Stone Australia. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Cub Sport return with new single 'Always Got The Love'". NME. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Cub Sport return with joyful single 'Always Got The Love'". Out in Perth. 14 June 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2023.