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MUSIC FEATURE

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Cub Sport photographed by Mia Rankin. Clockwise from left: Tim Nelson, Dan Puusaari, Zoe Davis, Sam Netterfield.

push back against that. I think playing with effects can emphasise certain qualities in a vocal, to bring out something really unique and special. It can intensify emotions and textures that may have been kind of hidden before... It's been said there are “no ballads” on this album, and that's technically true. But you've found an artery towards blending ballad and dance – so the fragility and earnestness is still there. Is it something stylistic you were fully aware of? I love that – thank you! I think the earnestness has kind of been the connecting force throughout all the sonic evolutions of the Cub Sport discography. I wanted this album to have that same heart and emotion, but for the overall feeling to be more energising and uplifting… I guess I wanted it to feel lighter. As well as bouncing ideas off Zo [Zoe Davis, bass], Dan [Puusaari, drums] and Sam, I worked with a bunch of extremely talented writers and producers who helped bring that vision to life: Max Byrne, Styalz Fuego, Nat Dunn, Simon Lam, Mallrat and Shamir. Dream team! The title of this album welcomes such subjective imagery – but of course it is also the title of a poem by Jay Hulme.Why did his words resonate? Jay’s poem paints this picture of Jesus on a dance floor at a gay bar, and a boy approaches him hoping to be healed of being gay. Jesus tells him “My beautiful child, there is nothing in this heart of yours that ever needs to be healed.” I grew up in a pretty religious, homophobic environment and that made it hard to feel like I could be myself. I spent years praying that God would make me straight, and hating that I was gay. So seeing Jesus presented like this was really moving. The whole Cub Sport discography kind of follows my journey of unlearning a lot of what I was told growing up, self-acceptance, and learning to be proud of my queerness. I think this album feels like a celebration of the point I’ve gotten to so far. I hope these songs can represent the joyful parts of that journey.

Jesus at the Gay Bar by Cub Sport is out April 7 via Sony.

CUB SPORT Why is it that the words we use to describe the feelings dance music gives us – words like 'euphoria' and 'rapture' and 'ecstasy' – also find high rotation in religious contexts? Cub Sport are mining the spaces between the two with more personal motivation than ever, and finding sonic bliss. On the Brisbane band's fifth album, vocalist and songwriter Tim Nelson sends intimate, synth-lit missives through stained-glass; we asked him all about the phenomenal Jesus at the Gay Bar . Words Zoë Radas

the magic of those big moments that played out in our small, private world – the rush, the hotness, the tenderness. Your voice is warped in many ways across the album; do you think your interest in artistic distortion of voice has anything to do with pushing back against the focus on purity/clarity you get in a traditional choir (which we know you participated in as a kid)? Haha, yeah, I was a boy soprano from age 15-16! But I don’t think my love of vocal manipulation is necessarily from wanting to

Keep Me Safe contains the repeated lyric, “I just wanna drive forever” - and the clip opens with yourself and Sam [Netterfield; keys and backing vocals; Nelson's husband] in a car together.When we're young, a lot of our 'transgressive' (or just emotionally pivotal) moments happen in cars, or on trains – in the spaces between destinations. Why do you think that is? Totally. I think when you’re young and queer, living with your parents and not out yet, your car is one of the few places where you can be alone and be yourself. I think for me, Keep Me Safe and the music video are about capturing

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Those who believed all the good riffs had been taken were shamed into silence this time 20 years ago, when a seven-note lick blasted out of Detroit and through the brains of music fans far and wide. Seven Nation Army was the first single fromThe White Stripes’ fourth album Elephant ; Jack White famously did not use any computers during the album’s writing, recording or production, and the most modern piece of equipment he utilised was from 1963.

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