Source: NPR
American-indie pop band Bleachers most recently debuted a brand new song during their Tiny Desk concert for NPR. For the performance, super producer, and frontman of the brand, Jack Antonoff, led on the piano and was joined by his bandmates to create a genuinely electric tune at the New York’s Electric Lady Studios, the same spot they recorded their forthcoming third studio album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night.
Leading on the piano, Jack Antonoff and his band started the performance with the opening song on the album “91,” set to be dropped on July 30. The somber yet contemplative tone of the song was supplemented by plenty of saxophones. After the opener, the pop band followed the performance with a rendition of two more recent songs, “Stop Making This Hurt” and “Chinatown.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Antonoff opened up about the inspiration for the somber album opener and talked about the emotional, post-break-up mental space he was in since the end of his relationship with Lena Dunham. He described feeling a profound amount of darkness and depression as he started work on the recent album Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night. “I fell in there. But the moment it starts to open up, and you see a piece of light is an amazing place to write from,” he said.
He further explained that the desperation in the songs was how he felt like a New Jersey native wanting to experience a breakthrough and live a whole new life. “I want to break through into another part of my life,” he shared. “So that’s when I started to see the framework. And then an amazing thing happened when the pandemic hit. It was like the final piece of the album because everything I’m talking about in the songwriting is about sort of dreaming of a next place.”
Last week, Antonoff collaborated with Jason Isbell for a split 7′ single for charity in which they covered each other’s songs. Antonoff covered Isbell’s “Dreamsicle,” while Isbell covered Bleachers’ song “45.” All proceeds from the single will be donated to the “Ally Coalition,” an organization established by Antonoff and his sister, Rachel Antonoff, to help provide support to LGBTQIA+ youth.
Last month, the band released a new song, “How Dare You Want More,” following “Stop Making This Hurt” and “Chinatown.” Speaking about the single’s release, Antonoff revealed that the past few years have been about him finding out things about his family that shook his belief and structure. He shared that he has experienced a myriad of feelings, including fear, rage, darkness and a few others but have finally come to the conclusion that everyone wants a little more of life and going out there to get it can result in a shameful feeling as you constantly battle yourself and the voice of criticism asking you “how dare you want more?” He concluded the interview by saying, “It is an easy song to write about the people in my life and one of the hardest things to do about oneself.”
