John Lewis have unveiled their Christmas advert for 2024, and with it the featured song – Richard Ashcroft’s acoustic recording of “Sonnet”, the 1998 single by his band The Verve.
This year’s feature film-style clip follows Sally – a young woman in search of a festive gift for her sister, Lauren – who finds herself embarking on a journey through her childhood memories.
Ashcroft recorded the acoustic version of “Sonnet” for his solo album, Acoustic Hymns Vol 1, which was released in October 2021.
Comprising new takes on songs from the Lancashire-born musician’s back catalogue – mostly from The Verve’s third studio album, Urban Hymns– it debuted at No 2 on the UK albums chart and received positive reviews from critics.
In an interview last year, Ashcroft revealed that he’d pushed back against his label’s insistence to release “Sonnet” as a single in 1998.
“Songs like Sonnet… they’re so powerful, they’re beyond me and I think that’s an exciting thing,” he told Radio X.
“What’s good is that now I’m in a position where each drop of new material just makes [picking a] setlist a problem – it’s like having an incredible team, you know?”
The rock singer has been in the headlines recently thanks to his spot as one of two opening acts for Oasis during the UK and Ireland leg of their hugely anticipated reunion tour. One of the Manchester-formed band’s first national tours was as support to Ashcroft’s group, The Verve, in 1993; he returned the favour two years later when The Verve supported Oasis at The Bataclan in Paris.
Commenting on the reunion shows, Ashcroft said: “As a fan from day one I was buzzing for many reasons when the news of Oasis’s return was announced. I can say with no exaggeration that the songwriting talent of Noel and Liam’s pure spirit as a lead singer helped to inspire me to create some of my best work.
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“It was the perfection of ‘Live Forever’ that forced me to try and write my own. They dared to be great, made the dreams we had real and I will always remember those days with joy. Now it’s time to create more memories and I’m ready to bring it. See you next summer. Music is power.”
Noel Gallagher wrote the track “Cast No Shadow” from Oasis’s second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, as a tribute to the Lancashire-born singer.
“[Ashcroft] always seemed to me to not be very happy about what was going on around him, almost trying too hard,” Noel once said in an interview with Select magazine. “I always felt he was born in the wrong place, and he was always trying to say the right things, but they came out wrong.”
Reviewing the John Lewis advert for The Independent, Ellie Muir gave it three stars and wrote: “There are a lot of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments that overstuff this fleeting, two-minute-long advert like a Christmas turkey. At one point, Sally solemnly watches as her sister and mum dance together in the kitchen, and Sally’s mournful reaction suggests that their mother might have died. But then we quickly move on.
“Hit replay enough times, though, and the advert is a touching homage to sisterly bonds. It also reflects the familiar, slightly frenzied thought process we have when thinking up a gift idea for a loved one and searching through all of our shared interactions for tiny clues.”