The original three members of East London music collective Rudimental go back a long way. Co-producer Piers Agget, and DJ Locksmith grew up on the same road in Hackney, whilst their co-producer colleague Kesi Dryden lived just around the corner in Stoke Newington, where he went to the same school as Labrinth and Professor Green. A third co-producer Amir Amor joined the trio in mid-2011 after working with them on some remixes.

The song features the vocals of Leeds College of Music Further Education alumnus John Newman, who moved to London at the age of 20 to embark on a musical career. Newman got to know Agget, who introduced him to the rest of Rudimental, and this song came out of a day in the studio with the collective. It was released May 28, 2012 on Black Butter Records.

John Newman was facing an operation to remove a benign brain tumor when he heard this song on the radio for the first time. He recalled to Q magazine: "I'd been working on that track when I got a brain tumor. I remember being in a consultant's waiting room – he was going to talk me through the operation. I was sh---ing myself. I put the radio on and Zane Lowe dropped 'Feel The Love' – it was the first play of it . I thought, 'You know what? Everything's going to be fine.'"

Not long after Newman was discharged from hospital, the song reached #1 in the UK.