It was released digitally immediately after he was announced the winner on 10 July 2016, as the lead single from his debut studio album Zenith.

[1][2] Lynnette Guzman from Australian Network News believes "music insiders considered the likely mismatch of Arcuri's singing style with the pop song as the problem.

[4] David Knox from TV Tonight questioned "Who on earth decided Alfie Arcuri should be releasing an up-tempo single "Cruel" as his first single?...with viewers voted him through on the back of Sam Smith-style ballads for much of the season", calling Arcuri "a fine vocalist".

[5] Paul Cashmere from Noise11 felt that the song "was a complete disaster and makes a mockery of a show promoted to be about music".

[6] "Cruel" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 89 with 1,458 sales.