Mt. Joy offer a quietly fervent anthem for the times on their latest impassioned single, “New President.”

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Stream: “New President” – Mt. Joy

Yes, we need a new President – we need to fall in love again…

Everywhere you look these days there are political calls to action. Celebrities, media platforms, brands and artists of all types are using their platforms to ask Americans to vote in the upcoming election. It’s been impossible to evade the past few months, and rightly so. Voting is, at the minimum, a civic duty, and to many it’s a lot more than that. However, for a considerable amount of those shouting “Vote!” with followers to lose, their cries end there. It’s too political for some to even hint at whom their fans should vote for, and they leave it at that. Mt. Joy, the Philly-born folk rock group that experienced a meteoric rise in popularity last year, is absolutely not going to leave it at that.

New President - Mt. Joy — New President – Mt. Joy

Released October 30, 2020 via Dualtone Records, “New President” is about what you’d guess- how much we need one. But Mt. Joy goes much further on this track, setting it apart from the dozens of other politically motivated singles that have cropped up from artists during this administration. “New President” makes the desire for a new and different leader poignantly personal.

Might not work better give it all your energy,
might not work and it goes so slow
Might not work better give it all your energy,
might not work and it’s here
And I know it now and I want you to see me tear it down
Yeah, I don’t know how things got so
fucked up and I don’t know why we’d give up.

Yes, we need a new President we need to fall in love again
Yep, we need a new President we need to fall in love.

Most Americans have their rights at stake in this election whether they’re aware of it or not, so on that front it was already deeply personal. What’s moving about “New President” is how well Mt. Joy captures the experience of having the election- and with it, the future of the country and the freedoms we all do or do not currently have- on your mind at all times, alongside everything else going on in your life. The idea that “we need a new President we need to fall in love again” could be the two most important things to a number of Americans right now is not unlikely. For better or for worse, many people are just now waking up to the impetus of contributing to our democratic society, and it’s strange to bear the weight of that responsibility in light of how disastrously the current president has treated the job.

We’re gonna march down this boulevard. We’re gonna march down right now
We’re gonna march down this boulevard. We’re gonna march down right now
We’re gonna tear down these fascist clowns, we’re gonna tear them down right now.
We’re gonna tear down these fascist clowns and free the world around us now.

Still, Mt. Joy take an optimistic approach to the colossus. The band has been outspoken about how much better things could be since their inception. In many ways, “New President” feels like a spiritual sequel to “Sheep,” the band’s 2017 single that masterfully maneuvered the experience of being young and powerless in the face of injustice, but still hopeful and passionately inspired to make the country better than it was. Much like “Sheep,” “New President” doesn’t seek to capitalize on the despair or the buzzwords of the moment.

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Frontman Matt Quinn puts it simply, “There are so many more people that want equality and a world where human rights are inalienable rights. So, I hope the song captures the feeling of realizing we are at the final breaking point, but feeling hopeful that we can still fix it if we do it together. And don’t get me wrong, Fuck Donald Trump.”

I hope the song captures the feeling of realizing we are at the final breaking point, but feeling hopeful that we can still fix it if we do it together.

The time is long past for being apolitical, nonpartisan and hiding cowardice under the guise of “keeping the peace.” Voting and marching and educating yourself are just the very first steps towards a society where everyone is equal and free, both on paper and in our streets. With so much uncertainty, it’s really nice to know that your favorite artist cares about these things as much and as deeply as you do.

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