Review: Impact Sound Lab Have Dropped the England Anthem We’ve Been Waiting For
- Jun 23
- 2 min read
With England back on the world stage tonight, the timing couldn’t be better for Impact Sound Lab’s new track ‘Rise Up England (We Shall Never Surrender).’ It’s a proper football anthem: big guitars, thunderous drums, soaring chorus… the sort of thing that sounds like it was built for a stadium full of fans in full voice.
Behind the project are David Matheson and Norm Sabourin, two producers and songwriters with serious combined experience across pop, rock, country and hip-hop. Norm has worked with the likes of John Legend and 98 Degrees, while David has spent years spanning songwriting, production and music publishing. Together as Impact Sound Lab, they’ve put together something that feels genuinely crafted rather than knocked together for a quick tournament cash-in.
What makes the song stand out is the story behind it. David wrote it partly as a tribute to his father Ronald, who served in the Royal Navy during World War II and the Korean War and used to tell him stories about England’s 1966 World Cup win. There’s also a thread running through it from David’s years coaching representative football — that sense of collective belief and drive that every team needs to go the distance. It gives the track a real emotional core beneath all the epic production.
A music video is on the way, they’ve got a live band together, and there’s more music coming throughout 2026. For now though, with England kicking off tonight, ‘Rise Up England (We Shall Never Surrender)’ feels like exactly the right soundtrack.
Stream it now and get it on the pre-match playlist.
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