“Antonoff saves his thoughts for his own works, where his capability to describe complex emotions in a manner that feels nostalgic, but desperate and sad.”
Singer, songwriter, and producer legend Jack Antonoff has finally reunited with his band for Bleachers’ third studio album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. Since their last album, Gone Now, in 2017, Antonoff has filled his time producing works with renowned artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and Lorde. In this period, many people have become more familiar with the name Jack Antonoff, but as a producer for their favorite artists. Because of this, his music feels deeply personal to his fans.
When producing, Antonoff specifically focuses on executing the artist’s vision rather than his own and provides constructive criticism and ideas along the way. For him, it’s not about what he experienced or inputting parts of his own story into that artist’s work, it’s about finding what they want to say and how they want to say it. Antonoff saves his thoughts for his own works, where his capability to describe complex emotions in a manner that feels nostalgic, but desperate and sad. He has a specific way of speaking about his music that fans adore, a manner of description that is easily relatable to but pours into the world he creates in his music and amplifies the message even further. Gone Now is one of the best examples of Antonoff’s ability - the entire album is perfectly pieced together to reflect his lifetime, one full of ups and downs and illustrating scenes of rough subjects like grief, loss, anxiety and more. This same exquisite storytelling is ever-present in Take the Sadness Out Of Saturday Night.
This album is about wanting to enter the next phase of your life and the wild frustration of not being able to. The future is in reach, and you can almost touch it, but it keeps slipping away. Until you reflect on how many of your burdens will come with you in your journey and how many will stay behind, the future is out of reach. The track “How Dare You Want More” encapsulates the entire meaning of this album. The song itself is very Springsteen, with a full band behind his vocals, trumpets and guitars, but the lyrics are a little devastating. The song is about wanting more for yourself, to take control of your own life, but feeling guilty. Lyrics like ‘Who am I without this weight on my shoulder? Oh God, I'm dying to know,’ express that feeling, but the chorus, a repetition of ‘how dare you want more?’ emphasizes Antonoff’s idea that the question itself is silly. Once the realization hits, the world opens up.
Take the Sadness Out Of Saturday Night album is such a clear vision into his mind and it’s astounding how his lyricism expresses his journey, but remains open enough that so many of his fans can relate to him. Overall the album is in the similar vein of Gone Now, but it works so well for Antonoff and his Bleachers’ group that it feels like a continuation rather than a repeat. Can’t wait for the next chapter.
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