Fat Les have renamed themselves FAT LES 2000 and will release a new single to coincide with the Euro 2000 football championships this summer.
The track is a cover of the hymn ‘Jerusalem’, which according to Fat Les’ Keith Allen, will go to number one, and remain there “for the duration of our run in Euro 2000!”.
The track, which features lyrics by poet and artist William Blake is Fat Les’ most ambitious project to date featuring a sixty piece orchestra and three choirs, as well as the usual Fat Les band members including Keith Allen, Blur’s Alex James and artist Damien Hirst.
Allen told NME his reasons for picking the track to accompany the Euro 2000 Championships. He said: “It’s a continuation of ‘Vindaloo’ really. It’s a great hymn, and a great anthem.
“Also, it’s an opportunity to take the song back. It has always been perceived as belonging to the right, but there is absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t belong to everybody and everybody should be proud of it because it is a great piece of work.”
Allen is to direct the video for the single which is to be filmed in the studio while the band are recording the track with the choirs and orchestra.
Drapes will project images of England behind the band.
Allen said: “We’re going to shoot it in the studio like Live Aid but we’re going to have screens in there and project images. I’m going to have the Poll Tax riots, England winning the World Cup in 1966, you know, pictures that kind of create a kind of image of England.”
When asked if the track was set to go straight to the top of the charts in a similar fashion to ‘Vindaloo’ in the 1998 football World Cup, Allen joked: “(It’s a number one) without a shadow of a doubt! It’s the people’s choice for fuck’s sake!”
No firm release date has been fixed for the track although Allen wants the single to be released well in time for the start of England’s Euro 2000 campaign in June.