In March, they emailed a John Lewis marketing manager suggesting that the track could be used for their Christmas advert, accompanied by a call to donate to the charities involved. They did not receive a response.

They were surprised, therefore, to hear Young’s version of Together in Electric Dreams on this year’s advert, which tells the story of a young boy falling in love with an alien who crash-lands on earth during the holidays.

South Londoner Young, 20, is yet to release her debut album but has signed to Island Records, which has released music by the likes of U2 and Amy Winehouse. She is enrolled at the arts-focused Brit School in Croydon, which counts Adele and Winehouse among its alumni. 

The idea for making a Christmas song out of the Eighties classic came to Mr Millington while out for a walk during the height of the pandemic. 

He told The Telegraph that the message of connection over distance resonated during lockdown. 

Referring to John Lewis’s use of the song, the duo questioned how anyone might have the same idea. “How would you pluck a song like [the original] for a Christmas song? We did it first,” said Mrs Millington.

Her husband told The Telegraph that John Lewis may have liked the track but not their image. “This is pure speculation, but they might have thought we either weren’t edgy or cool or young enough,” he said. “Maybe they wanted a fresh face.”