Behind the Title Music: FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
With the goal to inspire younger generations of female footballers, for this year’s Women’s World Cup title sequence, ITV commissioned BMG to produce a unique track that stands out from the usual sports sequences.
Commissioning up and coming female artist LUME, the collaboration resulted in a soul and football anthem inspired piece - ‘Into Air’.
To find out how the final title sequence came together, LBB speaks with ITV Sport producer Harry Cambage, BMG vice president - creative and licensing, Michael Cromwell and LUME, who share the inspiration behind the music, the challenges of creating for such an iconic event and how they selected the final track.
LBB> Tell us about the concept behind the titles project for the Women’s World Cup 2023.
Harry, ITV> The majority of titles sequences you see in sports coverage are normally graphics / animation based. I wanted to create something that was true to life and focusing on the lifeblood of football and sport, the grassroots. We wanted to inspire younger generations of female footballers by not only showing them the ‘stars’ but showing kids just like them getting into football from different backgrounds and across the country.
It was key for me to have a female artist. The original track I gave BMG as inspiration was Little Simz ‘Wings’. I loved the dream aspect to the track and also the drama in the music. Conscious that the titles would only last 30-45 seconds, the pacing was key.
Michael, BMG> Due to the nature of the competition being international, it was a bit complex to clear the Little Simz track so we had to get creative. Harry loved the beat to ‘Wings’ but also the attitude and emotion behind it. He wanted something a bit more upbeat that would be great to cut picture to, and of course it had to be working with a female artist.
Our initial thoughts were to get creative and reach out to some new artists we hadn’t worked with before as well as some of our regular collaborators, with the goal to get four demos to share. We wanted to be as open with the brief to the artists so they could put their own spin on what they felt could work. This made the whole initial demo process all the more exciting.
LBB> How did the concept develop from there to land on the final idea?
Michael, BMG> Leaving the brief to the artists fairly open helped get four unique spins on what could work for the titles. We fed back on each of the demos, refining them to a point where we felt we could then deliver them to the client. It was then about getting detailed feedback from Harry, which eventually led to him picking LUME’s track to progress with.
LBB> How did you select the female artists and composers to include?
Michael, BMG> We wanted to work with some new talent as well as some of our regular collaborators. We knew from the brief who would have the right sound, but also who could potentially surprise us.
In the end we selected ‘Into Air’ from LUME, who had reached out to us through Instagram, so it was an amazing story to have that as the winning track.
LBB> LUME, tell us about the idea behind the track and what inspired it?
LUME> So the track was inspired by soul music and football anthems, but also the storyboard that was sent by ITV. That was really inspiring for me. It seemed like there should be three moods for the song: the first scene showing a girl, who is dreaming of becoming a football player, for it to then cut to high impact scenes of young girls playing football on the pitch.
During this section I thought the beat should be choppy and fast, with lots of impact. Then I read that the final section would show the stadium, the fame; flicking between the professional players and the girls who wanted to be them. The story felt emotional and it represented passion and drive so I tried to include that with the music.
LBB> What is this track like compared to your usual style as a music artist?
LUME> Overall I’d say it’s pretty different. The tempo for this track needed to be fast and to evolve very quickly, whereas my usual style sits in a more chilled pop space. However, there are some similarities with my previous music – some of my songs like ‘Edge of My Seat’ and ‘Silent’ finish with that epic feeling of euphoria, just like this track.
LBB> Have you worked on any similar projects in the past? How did you use your experience to guide you?
Michael, BMG> We’ve worked on lots of projects like this, but with it being the biggest Women’s World Cup to date, this made it all the more exciting and something we really wanted to nail. It’s definitely about knowing who from the artists that we work with could understand the brief, but then also having the trust in new talent to pitch for the project.
LUME> I haven’t worked on anything like this before so it was quite a challenge for me – especially trying to make the track build from a quiet section to a huge section, all within 40 seconds. As a songwriter, I’m used to staying with one feeling for a while, because normally a whole verse can be 40 seconds on its own, and can take its time setting the scene, but this track had to tell a story very quickly! But I do have experience as a producer, I just had to think a little differently.
LBB> What were some of the challenges of this brief and how did you overcome them?
Harry, ITV> Working on a tight budget will always bring challenges, however the greatest challenge by far was the timing of the project. With ITV only announced as the broadcaster for the tournament a couple of weeks before it began, we were chasing our tail straight away. This meant I had to be as clear and decisive as possible when it came to any potential alterations of the original track. The team at BMG and LUME delivered incredibly quick turnarounds throughout, allowing me to make the quick decisions that were necessary.
Michael, BMG> One of the main challenges was the uncertainty of whether we’d be able to land the winning track. There’s a lot of pressure, especially when it comes to a tournament of this magnitude, so we wanted to ensure we got it right. It’s always tough when there’s a reference track that is favoured, however we felt that with the right rounds of feedback, we’d be able to land on the winning formula. We made sure we received detailed feedback that we could pass onto LUME for her to keep refining.
LUME> I originally made the track one minute long, so having to shorten and lengthen certain sections is always challenging from a musical perspective, as you get attached to how it currently sounds. For example, the intro needed to be longer, but not long enough that I could make it eight bars (which tends to feel ‘correct’ in most music). It had to be six bars instead. So the challenge was to make the listener feel like this strange amount of bars is totally fine, by using productive techniques and sound design.
LBB> What were your personal highlights from working on this project?
Harry, ITV> Being involved in developing a piece of music from scratch has been fantastic to be involved in. It has without doubt been the highlight of the whole project for myself personally.
Michael, BMG> It was very exciting getting to work with artists we’ve not worked with before, and see the tracks take shape. In the end I loved seeing it all come together and finally landing on the winning track.
LUME> Seeing it open up the Women’s World Cup was definitely a highlight for me! Also it was my first time working with BMG – so that was another highlight.
LBB> What was your reaction to the finished piece?
Harry, ITV> I was delighted when I heard the first cut of ‘Into Air’ by LUME. The artist and the team had completely met the brief and I knew instantly that this was the perfect track for us. It has a great pace, fantastic drama at the top and the breakdowns throughout make it truly unique and stand out.
Michael, BMG> Hearing the finalised track definitely gave me a buzz, but it was all the more exciting seeing it placed on TV with the brilliant titles. I was on holiday in Italy at the time and I had to get someone in the team to send me a clip of the titles as I couldn’t access ITVX overseas!
LUME> It was a really proud moment to see the track open up ITV’s Women’s World Cup. There are some parallels with the young girls on the advert and myself, with both of us being in a male-dominated industry. There’s a lot of ‘swimming against the tide’ that comes with that. So this whole process has been really reassuring for me as a producer, and I’m grateful to ITV for understanding the importance of representing women in this huge global event.
