Cub Sport - Jesus at the Gay Bar [180g Transparent Orange Vinyl]

Cat. no: CUB008
Format: LP 180g Transparent Orange Vinyl
Barcode: 3700187680657
Release Date: 14 Apr 2023
Genre: Electronic

For their entire career, Cub Sport have been searching for some kind of absolution

To listen to the Brisbane band's music is to see a process of unburdening and unlearning in slow motion: their four albums to date plot a progression away from shame and towards joy, celebration and pure euphoria. On their resplendent ffth album Jesus At The Gay Bar, Cub Sport fnally reach that point of ecstatic
lightness, or at least somewhere close to it. Using the language of bright, crystalline dance music as shorthand for a kind of hard-won spiritual freedom, Jesus At The Gay Bar fnds the four- piece - Tim Nelson, Sam Netterfeld, Zoe Davis and Dan Puusaari - largely shedding hangups and celebrating love and life in all its manifestations.

Cub Sport's 2020 album Like Nirvana was a bloodletting of sorts - dealing with the long, complex legacy that religious trauma can leave on a life - and Jesus At The Gay Bar is about moving forward unencumbered. It's an ode to celebrating one's past, not just outrunning it, and looking boldly into the future, without the
fear of past demons resurfacing. "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 Nelson. "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."

Even if Jesus At The Gay Bar can't slip back through time, it's sure to fnd a home in the record collections of anyone looking to embrace the bright, bold potential of queer experience. This album is Cub Sport in all-bangers, few-ballads mode: the production here nods to house, 2-step and UK garage, while retaining the lush fragility of Cub Sport music past. These are dance songs whose beats capture the feeling of butterfies in your stomach and stars in your eyes. The crackling, kinetic "Songs About It" is a piano-house rave-up that's thick with the heat of a summer dancefoor, while "Always Got The Love" stretches a feeling of pure devotion into a gripping, muscular groove. These songs might remind you of the past, or they might provide diamond- hard assurance that the future holds something honest and thrilling. Written during the pandemic, the carefree sound of Jesus At The Gay Bar was inspired by time spent in private, communing with nature and relaxing with friends and family. "I was so familiar with getting my joy and happiness from playing shows," Nelson says. "I had to learn to fnd joy elsewhere. And that kind of lead to me wanting to make music that gave me that energy, and that at its core, felt uplifting."

Press support from Paper, The Fader, BBC Radio 1, Russh, The Guardian, i-DN, NME, Gay Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard and Music Feeds among others.

Cub Sport frontperson Tim Nelson has just been nominated for his frst GRAMMY, for his contribution to BAYNK's album Adolescence (Best Engineered Album, NonClassical); Tim engineered, co-wrote and featured on the track 'Mine (feat. Cub Sport)

Tour dates
April 29 - SWG3 Poetry Club, Glasgow
April 30 - Deaf Institute, Manchester
May 1 - The Louisiana, Bristol
May 4 - Lafayette, London

Tracks: Always Got The Love / Replay / High For The Summer ft. Shamir / Keep Me Safe / Zoom / Songs About It / Beg U / Hold / Yaya ft. Mallrat / Magic In U