Goldfinger

The James Bond franchise theme is one of popular music's most demanding forms — it has to be orchestral and intimate, grandiose and personal, dangerous and seductive simultaneously. Ash's take strips the formula down to its rock essentials while remaining stubbornly faithful to the spirit of the original John Barry arrangement. The guitars carry the iconic brass melody with a satisfying crunch, and the production layers strings and horns over the band's inherent power-pop sensibility, creating something that feels both reverent and slightly cheeky, like a tribute performed by people who are clearly having the time of their lives. Wheeler's vocal here is more controlled than usual, reaching for something smoky and theatrical without losing the sincerity that makes everything he does feel genuine. There's a knowing quality to the performance — an awareness of the song's place in cultural history — but it never tips into pastiche. The production has a warmth and fullness that serves the material, swelling at exactly the right moments. As a Bond theme it's unusual for existing outside the film that bore its name, becoming instead a standalone piece of Britpop history, a song that captures a moment when British youth culture was convinced of its own centrality to the world. It works best late at night, when the lights are low and everything feels slightly more cinematic than it actually is.