Their song was used in a video for the hard-right French political party.

M83’s Anthony Gonzalez is quite upset over the use of the band’s hit ‘Midnight City’ in a video released by far right-wing French political party Le National Front. He took to Facebook to decry the unauthorized usage, noting that the band’s music is apolitical, and they refuse to have it associated with any political party, Le National Front especially. The offending clip showed Julien Rochedy, president of Jeunes avec Marine, the party’s youth electoral support committee, speaking about immigration.

In a post on the band’s Facebook page, since removed, Gonzalez wrote:

J’ai découvert avec horreur que le Front National utilisait “Midnight City” dans l’une de ses vidéos de campagne. Ils l’ont fait sans mon autorisation, et je suis consterné par leur manque de respect artistique. Le minimum est au moins de demander à l’artiste si il est d’accord ou non d’etre associé à une image ou une marque. Même les publicitaires et les marques les plus commerciales le font.

D’une manière générale, la musique de M83 est apolitique et je refuse d’être associé a un quelconque parti, tout particulièrement le Front National…

Which translates to:

To my horror, I discovered that the Front National have been using “Midnight City” in one of their campaign videos. They are doing this without my permission, and I am appalled at their lack of artistic respect. At the very least, artists should be asked if they agree– or disagree– with being associated with a certain image or brand. Even the most commerce-minded advertising agencies and brands do so.

In general, the music of M83 is apolitical, and I refuse to be associated with any party, and particularly the Front National…

The video has now been taken down due to a copyright claim by Naive, M83’s French label.

[via Pitchfork]