John Lewis is right. House music has the power to bring us together, writes Ali Miraj

Yes, John Lewis has done it with its Christmas offering. That a promotional video from a department store could be as central to the festive season as Carols from the chapel at King’s College, Cambridge, is bemusing, but there we are.

It centres on a family celebrating the big day. The mum calls on everyone to clear away the presents after the meal, and the father finds himself by the Christmas tree gathering discarded wrapping paper and discovers an unopened gift entitled “Dad”. He tears the wrapping paper to reveal a 12” vinyl of the 1990s club classic “Where Love Lives” by Alison Limerick.

He duly puts the needle on the record and the pulsating beat kicks in. It takes him back to memories of being in a club dancing to the track, and he ends up thinking of his son first as a teenager, then running toward him as a toddler and then as a baby in his arms.

Back once again in his own living room as the music segues into a slower instrumental new version from the British artist Labrinth, he looks up to see that his son has come down from his bedroom and is standing in front of him. He hugs him close. It is touching. It is also relatable.

There will be middle-aged fathers across the country who relive their clubbing days by dancing around their kitchens, listening to club classics on Heart Dance, and taking the occasional family trip to Ibiza.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. The advert resonated with me not only because it took me back to the first time I ever dropped that iconic track in one of my own DJ sets, but also to the night they played it in the main room, the Box, at Ministry of Sound the Saturday night following the death of House music legend, Frankie Knuckles.

It was he who remixed the track with his longtime collaborator, David Morales, which made it an international sensation. Frankie was a friend and my inspiration to become a DJ. I miss him.

But John Lewis, via Saatchi and Saatchi, the advertising agency that produced the ad, has also tapped into the zeitgeist.

At a time when a growing number of young men are attracted to toxic masculinity peddled by online influencers and there is a lack of male role models for them to emulate, a family man reminiscing about his clubbing days and movingly embracing his son is powerful in its simplicity.

For me, House music’s fundamental and enduring appeal lies in its power to move people. The ability to create memories that last forever - the place you were, the people you were with, the atmosphere you played a part in creating.

John Lewis will be selling a limited-edition vinyl featuring both versions of the track in its stores, with profits going to the Happier Futures Programme, which supports people who have grown up in care.

The ad ends with the message “If you can’t find the words, find the gift”. I will be buying a copy.

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Ali Miraj presents his show on LBC every Saturday and Sunday 12-3pm and is a House DJ.

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