The genre employed in the song is heavily guitar-based, making use of delay and reverb effects; and produced using the Wall of Sound technique.

"It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry" was originally released as a download single through Sane Man on 7 February 2008, and a limited edition 7" one week later.

The song received mostly positive reception from music journalists, with single reviews praising its lyrical content and production and likening it to the work of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Mark Beaumont of NME named it Track of the Week, and praised the song, stating that it "stirs more emotion than a million candle-lit meals" and compares it to previous single, "Daddy's Gone", as well as the work of fellow Glasgow band The Jesus and Mary Chain, stating it "shimmers in the kind of elegiac-yet-filthy Wall of Sound thrum [reminiscent of Psychocandy] [...] only this time even more dark, dolorous and redolent.

"[2] John Murphy of musicOMH praised the song's composition, stating "[broad] Scottish brogues, lashings of feedback and multi-layered guitars and a massive dosage of self-loathing all combine here to produce one of the most compelling singles in months."