Over the weekend, Cub Sport dazzled at the AFL Grand Final with a stirring rendition of Powderfinger‘s Odyssey Number Five classic ‘These Days’. The band performed as part of the Grand Final’s entertainment lineup at the Gabba alongside the likes of DMA’S, Electric Fields, Thelma Plum, Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale and more.
Now, the Brisbane indie-pop band have shared their stunning, sparse take on the song to streaming services. Their stripped-back version pairs a warm backdrop of ambient synths and understated percussion with frontperson Tim Nelson’s vocals, which oscillate between delicate and soaring.
Cub Sport’s cover of the Powderfinger gem arrives after it was revealed last month that Powderfinger themselves had turned down an offer to perform at this year’s AFL Grand Final. Saying they’d rather make way for active Queensland artists instead, they suggested an array of other acts – including Cub Sport and Thelma Plum.
Cub Sport released Like Nirvana, their fourth album, back in July of this year. Speaking to Music Feeds ahead of the album’s release, Nelson talked about the cathartic nature of writing and recording the record.
“After living so many years, trying to hide my true self, trying to be a version of myself that I felt was more easily digestible, putting my truth and the things that I have always been most scared to share with people into songs is incredibly freeing,” Nelson explained.
“I’m not sure what it is or what drives it but there’s this force in me that pushes me towards where I’m meant to be going and what I’m meant to be writing. It wasn’t really until I started diving deep that I started to get this feeling of passion in my chest when I’d listen to the songs I’d written. And I feel like that feeling is kind of the guide of what we put out.”
Listen to Cub Sport’s cover of ‘These Days’ below.
