The Strokes are all in for Maya Wiley. On Monday (June 21), the Manhattan band once again threw their support behind the lawyer-professor and former counsel for current mayor Bill de Blasio, who is facing off against 12 other democratic candidates in a bid that has already earned Wiley endorsements from the likes of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The Strokes, of course, did it in song courtesy of the new bouncy anthem “Starting Again,” which appears in a Wiley TV ad just as she has surged into second place in the city’s first-ever ranked-choice mayoral election, which is set for Tuesday (June 22). The spot features footage from the band’s June 12 16-song concert in support of Wiley at New York’s Irving Plaza, which included guest appearances from Blood Orange and comedian John Mulaney.
The song was co-written by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas and former New Radicals leader Gregg Alexander and co-produced by Alexander and David Kahne, with Alexander and Casablancas explaining their motivation in a statement. “In an era of voter suppression and mega donors dismantling democracy, it’s crucial to remember New York City is too important to risk handing the reins of America’s most diverse metropolis to the same kind of party machine that’s controlled NY’s governance for most of the 20th century … one of Brooklyn clubhouse politics, big real-estate money, and mutual back-scratching,” they said. “It is time we elect Maya as the city’s first woman mayor to make things better for ALL of our futures.”
The band also released their acoustic AutoTuned performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from a virtual fundraiser for Wiley on May 15 to help remind New Yorkers to get out there and vote on Tuesday.
Watch the new Strokes-soundtracked Wiley ad below.
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