New Radicals Release First New Song in 28 Years
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- New Radicals released "One Night Only (Break Loose Break Free!)" — their first original song under the band name in nearly 28 years — as part of the soundtrack for the rom-com film One Night Only, which opens August 7.
- Frontman Gregg Alexander disbanded the group in 1999 after their 1998 debut Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, which spawned the hit "You Get What You Give"; the new track is their first original release since then.
- Alexander continued working as a songwriter and producer post-breakup, co-writing Sophie Ellis-Bextor's "Murder on the Dancefloor," Santana and Michelle Branch's "The Game of Love," and Adam Levine's Oscar-nominated "Lost Stars."
- New Radicals reunited in 2021 to perform at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration parade, with Alexander and longtime collaborator Danielle Brisebois later co-writing a song for a 2024 Kamala Harris campaign video.
- The band has been active since the reunion, rerecording "Lost Stars" and "Murder on the Dancefloor" under the New Radicals name in 2024 and last month stepping in for Santana on Branch's rerecording of "The Game of Love."
- The film's soundtrack also features King Princess' cover of the disco hit "Love Is in the Air" and a preview of Este Haim's score, with the movie described as being "about searching for love on the least romantic night of the year."
Why it matters: The track marks a genuine creative milestone: nearly three decades after disbanding, New Radicals are putting out an original song — not a reissue or cover — giving the rom-com its own bespoke anthem while reconnecting Gregg Alexander with his frontman identity after years behind the scenes as a hitmaker-for-hire.
