There is a seemingly endless supply of songs devoted to new New York City, but there are decidedly fewer songs that praise the city’s sports teams. Then, of course, there’s The Strokes‘ “Ode To The Mets,” which arrives off their most recent record, The New Abnormal. While the song isn’t explicitly about baseball, the group shared a video accompanying the track on the same day The Mets are poised to play their first post-quarantine game.
Directed by longtime collaborator Warren Fu, the visual takes the viewer on a journey through time by combining old-school footage with futuristic CGI. According to DIY, the visual is “loosely inspired” by a conversation Fu and vocalist Julien Casablancas had about the intro to the TV show Cheers.
Ahead of the visual’s release, Casablancas opened up about not being able to tour behind the album due to the pandemic. While it’s true the tour has been put on hold, this wouldn’t actually be the first time the band has gone without touring behind a record. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Casablancas explained a conflict in the band led them to forgo a Comedown Machine tour. “People are like, ‘Oh man, you’re not able to tour!’ I’m like, ‘That’s a bad thing?’” he said. Additionally, Casablancas said the band nearly postponed The New Abnormal but eventually decided to go ahead with their original rollout. “The idea came up, I suppose because we can’t really promote it,” Casablancas said. “But it didn’t seem worth postponing.”
Watch The Strokes’ “Ode To The Mets” video above.
The New Abnormal is out now via RCA. Get it here.