Many pop listeners have grown weary of American record-producer Jack Antonoff’s presence in the pop space. After over a decade of collaborations with artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Clairo and many more, audiences have criticized Antonoff for his apparent monopolization of pop music. While the fatigue is understandable, Antonoff’s recent release with his band, Bleachers, reaffirms the mastery of his craft. The band’s self-titled album includes some of his most honest and mature material yet.
“Bleachers,” the band’s fourth studio album, is a seamless continuation of its previous albums’ sounds, themes and moods, chock full of easter eggs and nods to earlier songs. The first half of the Bleachers discography transitions from experimental ’80s synth-pop to a melancholic story of feeling caught between the past and the future. Released in 2021, “Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night” lets go of the synth-pop while trying to move on from the past. The recent narrative displayed in “Bleachers” is one of maturity, moving on from grief through love and stepping into a new chapter in life.
The swoony “Tiny Moves” is reminiscent of the ’80s synth-pop in past albums “Strange Desire” and “Gone Now.” Comparatively, the quick beat and rhythmic strings of “I Am Right On Time” recall Antonoff’s collaboration with pop band The 1975 on their 2022 album, “Being Funny in a Foreign Language.” This sonic shift from synths to strings portrays Antonoff’s sonic and thematic evolution as he croons, “The future’s past, I’m right on time.”
Bleachers’ evocative production and lyricism makes it essential to hear their music live, in a crowd of other people who connect to the threads of hope, love and loss. One of these critical moments comes in the third track, “Jesus Is Dead,” that launches into a riotous saxophone solo that is made for the stage. In the fast, electric “Self Respect,” Antonoff roars “the crowd goes wild,” as the audience’s cheers can be heard in the sonic periphery. With every Bleachers release comes the promise of an electric, euphoric live performance and their latest album guarantees this.
While the band’s music has always deeply reflected Antonoff’s life, there’s an added level of personal experience through his recent marriage to Margaret Qualley and the love songs on this album. “Me Before You,” the fourth track on the album, compares his love life before Qualley to a lonely game of baseball, needing to “get out before the heart starts shakin’.” Antonoff stated in an interview with Apple Music that the song “Isimo” is a love letter to his wife in its truest form.
“Woke Up Today” is a quiet ode of simplicity, detailing even something as simple as the miracle of your wife’s breathing. The song touches on grief’s lingering moments and the role of marriage in taking on your partner’s emotional weight, in addition to all of their wonders. In these love songs, audiences gain an insight into Antonoff’s intense feelings on marriage and can see the growth and maturity that his relationship with Qualley has brought him.
“Bleachers” perhaps lacks the same conceptual cohesion of “Strange Desire” and “Gone Now,” which both feature lyrical and thematic symmetry through the use of recurring spoken word pieces, melodies, motifs and reprises. “Hey Joe” and “Call Me After Midnight,” while still lovely and sentimental, feel somewhat out of place among the album’s overarching themes.
“Hey Joe” is about his father’s experience in the Vietnam War, exploring how a parent’s past “trickles down to the kids.” “Call Me After Midnight” keeps in line with the nostalgic theme using imagery of pulling up on your lawn and late-night calls, but the climax of the song in which Antonoff chants that “they don’t want you, they want your faith” doesn’t clearly connect to the overall ideas of grief and love.
Overall, though, the self-titled album is a perfect continuation of Antonoff’s musical and personal journey, proving he is continuing to mature and grow his music. It’s incredibly gratifying for longtime Bleachers fans to receive this album that tracks the band’s growth in style, sound and personal expression.
Contact Lulu Chatterjee at [email protected].
