DETROIT — New Radicals are back.
Gregg Alexander’s alt-pop group, known for its enduring, spring-loaded 1998 hit “You Get What You Give,” has returned with a pair of new songs, its first releases in more than 25 years.
The songs are new, but they have history: one is a cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 hit “Murder on the Dancefloor,” which was co-written by Alexander (and was resurrected in 2023 thanks to its use in “Saltburn”), and the other is “Lost Stars,” a cover of Adam Levine’s 2011 song from the musical drama “Begin Again,” which was co-written and co-produced by Alexander.
The songs were released Friday, and were presented along with a lengthy note from Alexander, which was addressed to Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris, who used “You Get What You Give” as his walkout music during his appearance at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (“You Get What You Give” was also a part of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign: It was a favorite of Biden’s late son Beau, and New Radicals reformed to perform it as part of Biden’s inauguration in January 2021.)
“Learning you had been playing ‘You Get What You Give’ hundreds of times since 2020 as your campaign ‘walk on song’ touched me deeply — particularly when you told me you had selected the song merely as a music fan, not even being aware of the Biden family’s emotional connection to the song via Beau,” Alexander wrote in his public letter to Emhoff. “When we spoke in NY, it was clear that you’re a family man of conscience who cares about his country and its people. It’s what makes Kamala and you true ‘new radicals’ of the best kind.”
