Jack Antonoff, please focus on Bleachers
For the unaware, Jack Antonoff is a hot name in the music industry. He is most well-known for being the producer of American pop “princess” Taylor Swift and a litany of other notable musicians like Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, The Chicks, Clairo, St. Vincent, and many, many more. The cherry on top of it is that in 2022, after three consecutive years of being nominated, he also won the Producer of the Year award for non-classical music at the Grammys.
Antonoff got his most notable start in the music industry with his band and early 2010s staple, Fun (stylized as fun.), where he served as the drummer and guitarist. He would also go on to help produce many tracks on both band’s albums, Aim and Ignite and Some Nights, specifically. After well over a decade of expanding his musical resume, I must admit, I am happy he has achieved his time in the spotlight. But I would be a liar if I didn’t say I wish to see him less heavily on the production front.
Since 2014, Antonoff has been the lead singer and producer of the rock band known as Bleachers, who will be releasing their fourth original self-titled album on Mar. 8, 2024 (the day this paper comes out! You better stream it on all major streaming platforms…). I feel that Antonoff is truly at his best in all aspects, from lyrics to sound to performance, and just a general force of personality in this role. Something about Antonoff in this position sparkles for me in a way that his production work alone doesn't; a great example is Del Rey’s latest album, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Boulevard.
Antonoff has the ability to take and celebrate so many atypical instruments. The way he does this is by giving them each a moment to shine, making them an integral and endearing part of the songs, which is not a small feat. You can feel his influences throughout his discography—from more classical rock sounds along with the big band sounds of the early 1900s—regardless of whether he’s in the producing helm, writing, singing, performing, and/or all of the above! It has the ability to make the sound of Bleachers modern and retro at the same time; I’d say that it is like how you’d imagine upcycling would sound if it were translated into music.
In September of 2022, I was lucky enough to be able to watch Bleachers live—the short of it is that I am all but foaming at the mouth, for my next opportunity, to see them in that format. At the time, I was much more of a casual Bleachers fan. I felt somewhat unsure of some of the more big band aspects of their sound and wasn’t quite into the feel of it all yet. It is safe to say, I was officially converted after the experience. Antonoff, along with all his other bandmates, were engrossed with the crowd—explaining various effects that are commonplace in live music, bantering amongst themselves, and using every square inch of that stage—it was a great experience!
Also, there was a saxophone solo; need I say more?
Overall, I suppose my point is that when consuming Bleachers-related content such as songs, music videos, live performances, interviews, etc., the viewer can sense how much fun Jack Antonoff has with his passion project. It is electric and can be felt by casual and die-hard fans alike. In the future, I will continue to be excited to see him credited as a producer for other budding and star-studded artists, but I will still personally think of his magnum opus, and most notable project, as being the one he most overtly fronts: Bleachers.
Thumbnail Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons