In the year-and-a-half since Brisbane indie-pop darlings, Cub Sport released their debut record, a lot has gone down for the group. Personally and musically, they’ve been on a rollercoaster of self-discovery and progression, all of which has culminated in the creation of their forthcoming sophomore record, BATS.
“At the start of writing this album I wouldn’t have dreamed of sharing these songs with people,” says lead singer and songwriter, Tim Nelson. “I was very much writing it to process my feelings, but I think by the time it got around to being ready to put a second album together, I was much more comfortable with who I am and I felt more comfortable sharing this side of myself.”
The record encompasses ideas of what one’s 20s can feel like – confusing, overwhelming and constantly motioning towards that sought after feeling of self-assurance and self-love. This time of life is a lot for anyone to deal with, lest the added pressure of having to come to terms with your sexuality, like Nelson spent a long time doing.
BATS is ultimately inspired by the singer’s coming outand his relationship, and now engagement, to fellow band member Sam Netterfield. The couple have made waves on social media for not only their flippin’ cuteness, but for their formidable vocality on LGBTQI rights.
“The main narrative throughout the album is the development of my relationship with Sam and starting to understand myself through that,” says Nelson. “It touches on before we were together but when I started to realise that I was in love with him, through to the moment where we had the conversation about getting together and then the joy of when we did.”
Completely raw and revealing, this is a deeply personal record that Nelson admits is a little terrifying releasing into the world. But he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I know since my coming out and trying to be a support for the LGBTQI community, we’ve had a really great response from people, like young LGBTQI people who have gotten in touch and said that we’ve helped them to learn to love and accept themselves just the way they are,” he says.
“If by being ourselves we can help people get to a place of self acceptance when they’re still young, then hopefully they can get to a place of inner peace and happiness earlier than I did, because I was in denial for so long and it can really be quite a crisis.”
The album’s title track is one of Nelson’s favourites. It’s got a calming and relaxed feel peppered with bursts of joyous energy, which he says very accurately represents how he was feeling when he was first able to openly share his love with his partner. His affection for the track is part of the reason the album itself is called BATS. The other reason is that he also finds a lot of beauty in watching a big old colony of the nocturnals go by, and has fond memories of he and Sam watching them at a house they used to share.
“I used to Snapchat it everyday, and then I had someone from Texas reply and say that he was seeing the same thing where he was, and I found it cool that we could be experiencing the same beautiful thing from different places in the world,” he says.
Although it hasn’t been an awfully long time since the release of the band’s debut full-length, Nelson also explains that sonically, they’ve come a long way. “This time around I trusted myself a lot more with production. When I started writing This Is Our Vice and recording those songs it was the first time I had ever recorded any demos, I was still finding my feet. It took me a while to even consider the fact that maybe what I was making was good enough or close enough to a final product,” he says.
“BATS is a bit of a new sound, and at least for me personally it was a new approach to making songs. It’s quite a pure product, we’re self managed and are our own label, so what you’re seeing and hearing is all straight from us. That’s quite special.”
