There are a few things people look out for every year when John Lewis unveils its annual Christmas advert – and one of them is definitely the song that’s used in it.
While the John Lewis ad is mostly associated with stripped-back covers of existing songs, past clips have also used original songs, as was the case with last year’s offering.
However, this year the department store’s team has done something completely new.
Released on Thursday morning, the new ad doesn’t feature a new recording at all, and is instead soundtracked by The Verve’s Sonnet, which further adds to the campaign’s heavy themes of nostalgia and reflection.
Instead of a cover, John Lewis is encouraging people to record their own takes on Sonnet via TikTok, with the best entrants being put onto a shortlist.
The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft will then select his favourite next month, which will be used as the soundtrack to the ad when it airs on regular TV on Christmas.
Sonnet was the fourth single to be taken from The Verve’s breakthrough album Urban Hymns back in 1998.
At the time, the group was reluctant to release any more singles from the already-popular album, with frontman Richard Ashcroft agreeing to do so only if it used formats that were not eligible for the UK charts.
The band’s label agreed, but an imported version wound up becoming so popular that the single ended up charting anyway (albeit at number 74).
Watch John Lewis’ 2024 Christmas advert below: