Jake scores with World Cup song

PORTPATRICK singer songwriter Jake Lewis knew he was going to write a song to celebrate Scotland’s World Cup qualification as soon as the full time whistle was blown at Hampden Park last month.

The national football team defeated Denmark 4-2 on November 18 to reach next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the USA. It will be their first FIFA World Cup finals appearance in 28 years.

Inspired by Scotland’s performance that night, which included a stunning overhead wonder goal by midfielder Scott McTominay, former Portpatrick Primary and Stranraer Academy pupil Jake got in touch with his producer and put pen to paper.

And his new track, ‘On Our Way’, created in collaboration with New York based Gold producer ‘Quab’, blends pop, R’n’B, hip-hop and EDM into a genre-defying sound.

Jake said: “As soon as Scotland won I got on the phone to the producer that I work with.

“I said to him – this will mean nothing to you, but it means everything back home in Scotland.

“I had to put the energy somewhere – what a game and what a moment!

“It took me roughly an hour to write the lyrics, I then recorded the vocals and sent them to Quab. And in the space of a week we had thee whole song mixed and mastered.”

The tracked has already surpassed 150k views on social media, prior to its release, and it has also been picked up by radio stations at home and across the Atlantic.

Jake and Quab have ensured human creativity merged with AI technology to capture the emotions of the defying moments of the match.

The song is traditionally written and produced and AI is used to apply the finishing touches. Jake has also collaborated with US based Ryan Pinkall to create a fully immersive visual experience using AI technology platform Play That AI.

Jake added: “There’s a lot of advertisement interest around the song which is good. It’s definitely catching all the right ears.”

A promising youth footballer, Jake had always shown an interest in music.

He first emerged in 2013 as a lyricist and song-writer, and he has gone on to work with major brands, such as Warner Brothers in London, across the globe.

The 30-year-old has also worked with multi-platinum producers and songwriters in the USA, Sweden, Holland and the United Kingdom.

Over the last decade, working with producer and engineer ‘Quab’, he has utilised production software, technology and AI tools to capture the future sounds of modern music, immersive and visual experiences.

Jake added: “(The football) all came to an end. (But) during that time I started writing songs at Newton Stewart.

“It was at an old friends, I used to go down there weekly, I then started going to Glasgow.”

Jake is now working on a World Cup project ahead of the tournament.

He also plans to fly to the USA, where Scotland are set to play Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in the group stage.

He said: “I’m 100 per cent going to Boston and Miami, I’ve got some good contacts. And I’ll be getting the kilt on that’s for sure!”

• ‘On Our Way’, inspired by the Scotland National Football Team qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico, will be released on all platforms on Christmas Day, while the video will be released on YouTube on Hogmanay.