It was released on August 25, 2013, through Mosley Music and Interscope Records as the third single from their third studio album, Native (2013).

On August 23, 2013, in a response to a question from an Australian fan on Twitter, OneRepublic revealed that "Something I Need" would be the next single released from Native.

"Something I Need" was produced by American recording artist John Ryan, who has previously worked with One Direction.

Haenow performed "Something I Need" on The X Factor live final results show, just after being announced as the winner.

[21] The song debuted at number two in the Republic of Ireland, beaten to the top spot by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk" (which ironically received an early release because it was performed on The X Factor by eventual runner-up Fleur East).

[22] It became the first X Factor winner's single to miss the number one spot in Ireland since Steve Brookstein's "Against All Odds" in 2004.

[23] The song sold 214,239 copies in its first week, becoming the second-fastest selling single of 2014 (behind Band Aid 30's "Do They Know It's Christmas?").