Kodaline have been shortlisted for the John Lewis Christmas advert “two or three times”.

The ‘High Hopes’ hitmakers think it is a sign they are doing something right that they have been asked more than once to submit a cover of a particular song for consideration for the department store’s iconic annual festive commercials.

Drummer Vinny May Jr. exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I think we’ve gone in for like three John Lewis Christmas adverts before.

“They send out the song that they want made to probably about 10 or 20 different bands and artists to get them to record a version of it. So we’ve been involved in that two or three times, I think it is.

“It feels nice to be asked to submit for it. It’s a tip to the hat that you are going in the right direction. It’s an indication that you are doing OK.”

Meanwhile, the band – which also includes Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast and Jason Boland - would love to collaborate with someone unexpected.

Discussing potential duet partners, Vinny said: “Working with Coldplay would be pretty incredible, we're huge fans of theirs, we look up to them and have been fans of their music since we were kids. That would be incredible.

“Working with somebody outside of our genre too would be pretty cool, so Khaled or Post Malone or Jay Z. Somebody that people wouldn't necessarily expect would be incredible. Or someone like Beyonce or Halsey.”

The group have really missed touring this year and can’t wait to get back on the road.

Vinny said: “The main thing about touring is getting to travel and see new places and meet new people. It's one of the best parts of our job.

“We get to see new places that we would never get to go to. We were in India for the first time last year, in a place called Pune. We didn't think we had any fans there and we headlined this festival for 20,000 people. It was pretty crazy.

“That's what we miss the most, those little surprises that you get when you go to a new country and you're worried about if people will be there and then there's thousands of people at the gig.

“Our crew is our second family, we spend so much time with them, we've had the same guys from the start. We miss them and the craic on tour so we all can't wait to get back on tour.”