Oshawa band ‘humbled’ to record Canada’s FIFA World Cup anthem

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Oshawa blues-prog-rock duo Crown Lands have Come Together for Canada as the country plays its first FIFA men’s World Cup in 36 years.

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The winners of 2021’s best breakout group at the Junos, following their 2020 self-titled debut, the band was chosen by TSN to record The Beatles’ classic Come Together as Canada’s official anthem for the global soccer tournament which begins Nov. 20 in Qatar.

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Canada, ranked No. 41 in the world, has its first game on Nov. 23 against Belguim, ranked second, at 2 p.m.

“We’re not soccer fans or sports fans at all, but when we got approached to do Come Together (we said yes),” said  Kevin Comeau, who plays guitar, keyboards and bass.

“So we tried to stay true to the original but also add the textural elements that are kind of signature Crown Lands, which is again pump the vocals up, the octave,” added Comeau, while driving through New Mexico with bandmate and vocalist Cody Bowles, who’s half-Mi’kmaq and identifies as Two Spirit. “Abbey Road (which contains the original song) has been my favourite Beatles record for a long time, so it just kind of made sense.”

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Added Bowles: “We already loved playing that song, so we just recorded it. It’s a massive honour. This is one of the most watched events ever. We’re truly humbled to have been asked to do this, and we’re very happy that we’re able to contribute our own little thing to this massive moment.”

TSN is currently running the FIFA men’s World Cup 2022 Qatar promo featuring Crown Lands’ hard rock version of Come Together, but there are no plans for an accompanying video for the group, which just opened for six Greta Van Fleet U.S. dates. That tour was postponed when GVF’s singer ruptured his eardrum.

No matter, the bandmates are now gearing up to watch some Canada men’s FIFA World Cup action.

“It’s pretty momentus,” said Comeau. “It’s really cool to be part of such a big moment for Canada, you know?”

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Added Bowles: “I’ll think I’ll definitely check out a few games. It’s not like I hate the sport or hate sports or anything. I have massive appreciation for the sports and what athletes do and what they kind of provide for the sense of community and togetherness and cohesion between nations.”

After playing Belgium, Canada will face Croatia on Nov. 27 and Morocco on Dec. 1, with the top two teams in their group advancing to the round of 16.

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The Canadians are considered underdogs, but showed in qualifying that they should not be underestimated.

As for Crown Lands, they feel they earned some new fans while opening for Greta Van Fleet and can’t wait to open for Toronto band July Talk in nine Canadian cities next spring and release a new 2023 album.

“We’re so lucky that we got a glimpse into that (Greta Van Fleet) world,” said Comeau.

“It was unreal because most of the time we play rock music, it’s 50-year-old dudes stroking their beards waiting for the time signature change and all of a sudden we had these people losing their s*** over songs that aren’t even released yet.”