Scissor Sisters planned to release "Shady Love" as the debut single from their fourth album Magic Hour, but ended up choosing "Only the Horses" as the lead, instead. The band insisted that "Shady Love," which features uncredited raps from Harlem's Azealia Banks, wasn't necessarily indicative of the feel of the rest of their LP. "It's a song we had fun making, so while it wasn't necessarily true to the direction of the album or what most people might think of as Scissors, we thought it would be good to just get out there in between albums," band member Babydaddy explained. The accompanying music video, featuring school children dancing and lip-syncing to the tune, received plenty of attention itself.