Morgan Spurlock, director of Super Size Me, has tagged pop trio AJR for the theme song to Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken, the sequel to his 2004 Oscar-nominated documentary.
Brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan Met wrote the uptempo track, “Burn the House Down,” after viewing the movie, one of the most anticipated documentaries premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, which starts Sept. 7.
In Super Size Me, Spurlock chronicled the effects of exclusively eating McDonald’s fast food for 30 days. The sequel focuses on Holy Chicken, a pop-up fast food restaurant he operated in Columbus, Ohio.
“We were blown away after watching the film, and we immediately connected with Morgan's passion as an underdog trying to shed light on this corrupt giant, “ said the band in an exclusive statement to Billboard. “We wanted to create a song that captured that passion. If enough underdogs band together, real change can happen, and we wanted to help inspire that change in ‘Burn the House Down’.”
Spurlock tells Billboard, ”I've loved AJR from the first minute I heard them. After seeing them live, I knew there wasn't anyone more musically suited to represent the spirit, the fun and the revelations of Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! I got all that and more with 'Burn the House Down’.”
AJR has scored two platinum singles, 2014’s “I’m Ready,” which was featured in Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck trailer, and its most recent hit, “Weak,” from the band’s new album, The Click. Current single "Drama” is gaining traction at pop, while “Sober Up,” which pairs the trio with one of its musical heroes, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, is starting to draw attention at alternative radio.