It is a little surprising that the music of the agile pianist and driven singer Jamie Cullum has not been used more often in films. His memorable sonic contributions to the haunting Clint Eastwood Gran Torino movie showed his range and sensitivity, so much so that the pieces recorded for that thriller stand up well as individual listening.

Here, for King Of Thieves Cullum re-tools an insistent composition from The Killers, of all acts called The Man into a lively workout, splintery piano to the fore and shot through with the energy he always brings to his stage performances. A pity in a way that a horn arrangement was not included, but the recording has impact. It’s to accompany a new heist film – The Hatton Garden Job – chockablock with veteran actioners like Tom Courtenay,Ray Winstone, Paul Whitehouse, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent and the great Michael Caine, all of whom clearly had a fine time portraying the ageing villains executing the raid on the vaults.

The song, recorded in Cullum’s own studio incorporates some syncopated Brazilian beats, funk guitar, edgy piano and crucially female backing vocalists singing with a nod to Sympathy For The Devil – which readers will recall used percussion against its doomy cyclic chordal cadence. The film-makers wanted something uptempo and they got it.

Pete Sargeant