Released: April 7
Australian pop group Cub Sport go global with their hotly anticipated fifth studio album ‘Jesus At The Gay Bar’.
Over the past decade, the four-piece – starring Tim Nelson, Sam Netterfield, Zoe Davis and Dan Puusaari – have climbed the pop ranks Down Under, with their most recent LP ‘Like Nirvana’ (2020) reaching No. 2 in the country.
Last year, RETROPOP named the band as One to Watch in 2023 and their latest album – which continues their progression away from shame and towards joy, celebration and pure euphoria – is a realisation of the journey they’ve taken so far.
“There’s a lot from my life before I came out that has always been shrouded in shame, fear and secrecy. But it doesn’t have to be a secret anymore, and I feel like I can really shine a light on the magic of it and recognise and celebrate it for what it was and is,” says lead songwriter Tim, who married Sam in 2018.
“A lot of this album is validating my younger self – like if I could have heard some of these songs back then, I might have found some peace within myself sooner, maybe even celebration.”
Its meaning begins with the title – which was inspired by writer Jay Hulme’s poem of the same name, about a young LGBTQ+ man struggling with his queerness – with the album seeing the group finally reach a point of lightness via bright, crystalline dance music, with nods to house, 2-step and UK garage.
Opening with the pre-release singles Always Got The Love and Replay, they demonstrate the winning formula of combining dance pop beats with the lyrical fragility of Cub Sport music past.
Keep Me Safe tackles closeted relationships while Songs About It speaks specifically to Tim and Sam’s relationship via the band’s music, which first connected the pair. Other tracks, meanwhile, are all out celebrations, with Hold and Magic In U among the most euphoric moments.
In opening up so profoundly in their lyrics, the group present their most authentic and accessible album yet, as Tim reflects: “I think that’s the beauty of writing honestly about my own life – it all fits together and reveals a little bit more of this greater story that’s still playing out, from an ever-evolving perspective but with the same heart.
“We have the self-appointed freedom to evolve and change and I think that’s why, five albums in, it still feels exciting.”
More than 10 years in the making, Cub Sport emerge with their finest body of work yet – an ode to celebrating one’s past and looking boldly into the future, without the fear of past demons resurfacing – and finally set themselves up to take their sound global.
‘Jesus At The Gay Bar’ is out now.
