Taron Egerton wrote to The Chemical Brothers, requesting to use their song ‘Go’ in the new film Apex.
- READ MORE: Tomora – ‘Come Closer’ review: a Chemical Brother and Scandi pop wizardess’ euphoric collision
The track was released by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands as part of their 2015 album ‘Born In The Echoes’, and recently saw a huge spike in streams after being featured in the new blockbuster starring Egerton and Charlize Theron.
Coming at a pivotal moment in the plot, the track has had a jump in popularity thanks to the feature, going from 92,000 US streams between April 17-23 up to 487,000 on the week of the movie’s release – an increase of 429 per cent.
‘Go’ has now moved up to Number Seven in the UK’s singles charts, making it the biggest Chemical Brothers single release since 1999’s ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’. It also sits at Number One on Shazam worldwide.
Apex has been viewed over 80million times in just 10 days, and now it has been confirmed that the idea to use The Chemical Brothers’ song in the soundtrack came from Egerton, who pitched it to director Baltasar Kormákur and then wrote to the electronic duo to request permission.
In his letter to The Chemical Brothers and Q-Tip – the New York rapper who provided vocals for the song – Egerton told the artists that he “loved your music since my early teens and have seen you perform live several times”.
He also said that his “mind was blown by [their] incredible set featuring floating giant robots”, before asking for them to grant permission for the song to be used in the Apex soundtrack.
“I’m asking you to let us use ‘Go’ for this scene,” he added. “I feel like I can do something bloody weird and unnerving and disturbing… but I need The Chemical Brothers’ help.”
Last week ‘Go’ peaked at Number Seven on the UK charts, and it currently holds the same position in the current mid-week charts. Ahead of Chemical Brothers on the Top 10 are Drake’s ‘Make Them Cry’ (1), ‘National Treasures’ (3) and ‘Dust’ (4) – all of which featured in his three new albums – as well as Olivia Dean and Sam Fender’s ‘Rein Me In’ (3), Tame Impala’s ‘Dracula’ (5) and Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ (6).
The latter is back on the charts following the release of the new Michael Jackson biopic, and Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s ‘Rein Me In’ recently broke the record for the male-female duet with the most weeks at Number One – staying at the top of the list for 11 weeks, surpassing Rihanna and Jay-Z’s 10-week stint with 2007’s ‘Umbrella’.
As well as releasing music as part of The Chemical Brothers, Tom Rowland has also been releasing new material under the supergroup TOMORA, which he formed last year with AURORA.
The duo dropped the huge launch single ‘Ring The Alarm‘ last December, before releasing debut album ‘Come Closer‘, playing their first ever live shows in London and Manchester, and taking to the stage at Coachella 2026.
Going forward, the duo will make an appearance on Later… With Jools Holland, joining artists like Squeeze and Niall Horan on the line-up, and also embark on a 2026 UK and European tour.
Speaking to NME about what to expect from their live shows, AURORA promised that they were “going to cook up something nice… on a very low budget!”
‘Come Closer’ was given a four-star review from NME, and praised as showcasing “wild ambition” and “exploring new, fascinating terrain”.
“Just as The Chems’ scope expanded exponentially when they became international festival dons and Aurora’s vision blossomed across the world stage to millions, it feels as if Tomora’s true potential will truly reveal itself on future records after finding their energy as a live act,” the review read. “Still for now, ‘Come Closer’ is a debut worth dancing about: exceptional, beautiful and shit tonnes of fun.”