Scottish singer-songwriter Calum Bowie unveils new single, ‘Coming Up Stronger’, his first release of 2026.
The song drops as the 25-year-old rounds off his biggest tour yet and sounds as lean, driven and determined as the man himself. It’s the first of a run of brand-new songs Calum will release this year, as he embraces the next stage of his creative life. It packs a punch, lyrically and musically, reflecting Calum’s burgeoning confidence as a songwriter and performer, whose ambition and focus has seen him progress, in a few short years, from home-grown self-releasing, through social media virality to accomplished recording artist and road warrior with an ever-growing tribe of word-perfect fans.
“Coming Up Stronger is about holding onto the ideas you have when you’re starting out,” says Calum. “When you’re doing something that seems a bit mad to everyone else, and maybe even to yourself, you’re breaking rules that you didn’t even know existed. I came up blind in that I didn’t really know what the rules were, so I just did what I felt was right. I put out singles myself and made videos in my flat because that was the only way I could reach people. And it worked!”
Listen to ‘Coming Up Stronger’ on the Scotland Football Songs playlist.
Calum continues, “Coming Up Stronger is a rallying cry to everyone doing their own thing, whatever that is. Knowing what you want and standing up for it is incredibly powerful. As I say in the song, ‘it might take longer but I don’t mind, I’d rather be myself than let myself get left behind.’”
With the 2026 World Cup fast approaching, ‘Coming Up Stronger’ has already found its true calling. With its soaring energy and resilient spirit, the track could become the perfect unofficial anthem for the Scotland National Team and the Tartan Army as they prepare to take on the world stage.
In a musical landscape littered with viral ‘moments’ that burned out way too quickly, Calum is building the career he manifested from his earliest days writing and releasing his own songs. He finished 2025 with a landmark, sold out show at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow and has just been named Indie, Rock & Alternative Live Artist of the Year at the Scottish Live Music Awards.
“As things have got bigger, there are more people, more cogs turning, more opinions and it’s easy to get pulled in different directions,” he reflects. “You need to make sure your own voice is as strong as when you started. Coming Up Stronger is me saying that I’ll always be the captain of my own ship and I believe in the vision that got me to this point. It’s not always been easy, as it isn’t for anyone trying to be creative for a living, and I’ve had to learn to be more direct in expressing what I want. Coming Up Stronger lays that out as if I’m talking to one person, but really it’s me reminding myself to stay true to my own vision.”
