The British & Irish Lions
01
The Brief
Sonicular was brought in by DAIR to compose and produce a bespoke walk-on anthem for The British & Irish Lions’ opening match of the 2025 tour.
The brief was both creative and strategic: the piece would need to energise a live stadium crowd at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, while resonating with a televised global audience on Sky Sports and international broadcasters.
The music had to strike a balance between cinematic scale and emotional weight- something recognisably epic yet deeply human.
It needed to embody the unity of four nations- England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales- while building anticipation for one of rugby’s most iconic teams.
Above all, the sound needed to feel timeless, powerful, and distinctive to the Lions’ brand.
02
Composition & Sonic Identity
To bring that vision to life, we approached the track with a cinematic framework- blending orchestral instrumentation, distorted textures, and atmospheric sound design.
Live guitar performed by session musician Giacomo Maggio provided the expressive, tactile feel needed to bridge the organic and the anthemic.
What made this track unique, though, was its deeply personal underpinning. As the composer behind the piece was preparing to become a father, we sampled the heartbeat of his unborn child and layered it into the rhythm- embedding a literal pulse of new life into the track.
Sonicular also drew on archival recordings from reel-to-reel tapes of the composer’s late grandfather and great-grandmother- interweaving their voices into the music.
This created a sonic narrative that spanned generations: a composition shaped by legacy, heritage, and human connection. This is core to Sonicular’s philosophy- that sound is not just heard, it’s remembered.
03
Broadcast Delivery & Rights Management
Sonicular managed the full delivery pipeline from creation to broadcast.
This included registering the work with PRS and PPL, assigning ISRC codes, preparing metadata for Soundmouse, and submitting all materials for cue sheet inclusion.
We ensured that all rights, licensing, and performance metadata were accurately documented and tracked for global royalty collection- both for the original broadcast and for future reuses, streaming, or licensing opportunities.
The track was also released under Sonicular Records- our in-house label and publishing company- making it available for public streaming and future sync licensing via our catalogue.