Wait a minute…Who is Jack Antonoff??
Taylor Swift’s latest album Midnights shocked the world as the clock struck midnight on October 24th. Taylor’s 10th studio album is a dreamy, synth-driven pop album. It explores a celestial feeling laced with reverb, perfectly soundtracking anxiety-fueled late nights, alone, hazily staring at your bedroom ceiling. This album, however, was by no means written alone. Taylor has been very open about just how much of a collaborative project Midnights was. Though “Vigilante Shit” was completely written by Taylor Swift, the album has one other person’s fingerprints all over it. Taylor’s main collaborator for Midnights is longtime friend and co-writer, Jack Antonoff. Many Swifties opened up their Midnights CDs to see Taylor’s name joined by Jack Antonoff’s and thought to themselves, “Oh, cool, cool…that’s nice,” but deep down also thought, “Wait a minute…Who is Jack Antonoff??”
The New Jersey native is a producer and songwriter, while also being the frontman of his own indie rock/indie pop band, Bleachers. Jack Antonoff is somewhat of a deity when it comes to pop music. The 38-year-old hit maker has been on the global music scene since 2004 when his second band, Steel Train, released their first studio album Twilight Tales From The Prairies. The band later released Trampoline in 2007 and their third album, Steel Train, in 2010, along with a compilation album titled Terrible Thrills Vol. 1. Terrible Thrills was entirely made up of renditions of their songs featuring female artists, including Tegan and Sara, Scarlett Johansson, and Rachel Antonoff.
In 2008, Antonoff teamed up with Andrew Dost and Nate Ruess to form Fun (styled as fun.), an indie rock band that would make their mark releasing hits like “We Are Young” and “Some Nights,” a song that would eventually be covered on Glee. Though fun. went on a hiatus in 2015, this experience allowed Antonoff more exposure as a producer and songwriter. In 2013, Antonoff and Swift first teamed up to create the song “Sweeter Than Fiction,” marking the start of their friendship. They have worked together ever since.
After fun., Antonoff announced his new project called Bleachers. Bleachers began as a solo project for Antonoff but would eventually turn into a full-blown band with Antonoff doing most of the studio work. Though Bleachers’ songs cover a wide array of topics, the most common element in all of the songs is an unwavering stream of personal details. Antonoff doesn’t shy away from shining a light on the darker aspects of life. Many songs on Bleachers’ first two albums, Strange Desire and Gone Now, deal with Antonoff’s relationship with depression and anxiety, especially in relation to how losing his younger sister at the age of 18 has shaped his experiences. Bleachers’ newest album, Take The Sadness Out Of Saturday Night, is heavily based on a concept that Antonoff describes as “unearned hope” and wanting to hold on to the good in life but not understanding why he can’t. One of the album’s first singles,“Chinatown,” features one of Antonoff’s idols, Bruce Springsteen.
Along with making three Bleachers albums and countless tours, Antonoff has kept busy as a writer and producer on a spree with other pop artists. While Antonoff has produced songs for bands like The 1975, The Chicks, and REM, he proved his mastery in producing for solo artists. Along with Taylor Swift, Antonoff has produced for Lana Del Ray, Carly Rae Jepsen, St. Vincent. He also co-wrote and produced arguably one of the greatest pop albums of all time, Lorde’s Melodrama. He was even tasked with creating the soundtrack for Minions: Rise Of Gru.
At the beginning of 2022, Antonoff boldly tweeted, “I am going to put out a Bleachers album this year.” He has since recanted this statement, admitting defeat (possibly due to his involvement in Midnights). However, he did communicate with fans, via giant inflatable tomatoes at a concert, that live recordings and a Christmas song are on their way, and we are on track to receive the fourth Bleachers album in 2023.
Sources:
https://www.capitalfm.com/news/taylor-swift-midnights-songwriting-credits/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/04/jack-antonoff-bleachers-interview https://www.discogs.com/artist/355464-Steel-Train
https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/more-powerful-than-a-locomotive/?/content/item/more_ powerful_than_a_locomotive/16035
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/diana-ross-tame-impala-collaboration-minions-s oundtrack-1350593/
https://www.nme.com/big-reads/bleachers-jack-antonoff-cover-interview-2021-take-the-sadness out-of-saturday-night-3006942
https://www.fuse.tv/2013/10/taylor-swift-sweeter-than-fiction
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/bleachers-take-the-sadness-out-of-satu rday-night-1202434/
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/jack-antonoff-sisters-death-anxiety-depression https://www.mtv.com/news/upzklo/jack-antonoff-bleachers-strange-desire-yoko-ono https://www.nme.com/news/music/jack-antonoff-says-bleachers-fourth-album-will-land-in-2022- 3129743