The Chemical Brothers have composed an official song for the London 2012 track cycling events, titled Theme for Velodrome. Tom Rowlands of the group is a keen cyclist, and his partner Ed Simons said the duo wanted to create a piece of music that would reflect “the sense of speed, pace and drama”, of the sport as well as the “incredible beauty” of the new Velodrome in the Olympic park in east London. The group’s new song will provide the soundtrack to six days of competitive track cycling at the games, when 10 Olympic gold medals will be won.
Rowlands said: “I have loved cycling since I was a boy. I have always made a connection between electronic music and cycling repetition, the freedom and sense of movement. Kraftwerk obviously cemented this connection with their Tour de France track. For us to create the theme for the Velodrome is a great honour and we’re really excited to hear it in situ.”
Theme for Velodrome received its first play on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show on Monday night. Simons revealed that the band have not been given tickets for the Olympics, saying: “We did ask but no one’s come through yet. At the moment neither of us has any …”
It was revealed in June that Muse have been chosen to provide the official song for the Games as a whole. Written specifically for London 2012, Survival will be played at various sport sessions at official venues. Frontman Matt Bellamy said: “I wrote it with the Games in mind as it expresses a sense of conviction and determination to win.”
Joining Survival and Theme for Velodrome are three more official Olympics songs: Good Morning to the Night by Elton John vs Pnau, the lead track from the new album of the same name; Good Life by Delphic, whose Clarion Call from their debut album has also been chosen as Channel 4’s theme tune for the Paralympics; and Scream by Dizzee Rascal featuring Pepper, an early taste of the rapper’s fifth studio album.
Track cycling was Britain’s most successful discipline at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, with Team GB winning seven gold medals. The Velodrome was designed by Hopkins Architects and seats 6,000.