6th November 2023
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Bleachers has just released their fifth album, ‘everyone for ten minutes’, and I want to talk about it as a fan of the band myself. Antonoff has spent at least the last decade becoming one of the most unavoidable names in pop culture, and this album is not one you’ll want to avoid either.
The album as a whole feels, well, like they’re telling a story that needs to be heard; personal yet distant, holding us at arm’s length yet beckoning us to come closer. Each song is unique, and feels like you’re sat in their living room exchanging stories and reminiscing on things long gone. At times, the album explodes with vulnerability, but then quickly quietens itself down into a whisper, which does work, but feels like there was this fear to truly go deeper into what I was expecting to hear from ‘everyone for ten minutes’.
‘sideways’ immediately reminded me of the Fun. era (which gave us songs like ‘We Are Young (feat. Janelle Monae), and ‘Some Nights’), with its punchy beat and the vibes of a song that you’d listen to in the car on the motorway with the windows rolled down. Here, Antonoff is staying true to Bleachers’ eclectic, unique sound, and feels like a song that is dedicated to lost love and thoughts of what once was, ‘You taught me how to run/ Then took me down with you’. Here, we’re told that love isn’t always easy and straightforward, so Antonoff learns to love ‘sideways’.
‘the van’ has a 70s feel, with its dreamy production and vintage-esque instrumentals, bringing storytelling and song together. It then morphs into a modern upbeat drum line, and it feels as though we’re being spoken to directly by Antonoff, ‘Think some of us need to chip away at what we don’t understand’. It feels like we’re being allowed a window into the past, and ‘the van’ is a vehicle to not only take Antonoff to “greater things”, but allow us to travel with him for the ride.
To me, this song has a heavy 2000/2010s feel to it, like he’s harking back to, once again, the Fun. era. The vocal autotune however feels fresh and new, like he’s breathing new life into Bleachers’ music, but it still feels completely natural for the band. Its upbeat production is instantly Bleachers, ‘We had a band, we had a life, we had dreams/ In a van we wrote our own Bible supreme’. It does seem though that Antonoff is slightly holding back here, nervous to fully let us in and see what lies behind the curtain. It ends with a ringtone, tying up the song in a neat bow perfectly suited to it.
This song showcases sparkly production, instantly recognisable as one of Bleachers. This feels like an intimate love song, raw and unafraid to express its message, ‘I had never known my name until you spoke it from your chest/ I stared and said “Oh yeah/ That’s forever”‘. ‘you and forever’ feels raw, ‘for cryin’ out loud, I was crying out for a savior/ no Jesus Christ, no Roman gods, they cower and you let me in’. It is a triumphant, f*ck everyone else kind of song, a throw your head back, dance and sing in your room kind of love song.
Although at first glance this may appear to be a song about Margaret Qualley, Antonoff’s wife, it is actually directed to the listeners and the fans. Antonoff addresses us, ‘Well, listen, I’ve got something up on my mind’. The acoustic guitar creates a homely, country-music type of feel. The song appears to be about protecting his own peace, which is what the album as a whole boils down to. ‘Now only my people can see me/ Only my people come in/ Everybody outside talking like they know/ But no, they don’t know’. We can feel the struggle Antonoff has with dealing with speculation from those who don’t know him as he rejects this proudly and declares he controls who get to know him truly. ‘dirty wedding dress’ feels defiant and proud, unabashedly fierce. Here, he has full control – ‘One, two, three/ Make it stop’ – the music stops, and we’re onto the next song.
Vocal autotune comes back into play here, and the church-type instrumental and saxophone gives the feel of an awakening, almost a continuation of ‘dirty wedding dress’ with its defiant themes. Antonoff continues to reject what has come to be expected of him, this time of his music and what he creates, standing proudly by his music – ‘I could try to leave my house, I’d end up right back on my stoop/ I could try to leave this hell, I’d f*cking die on this hill’. He could try to conform what people want him to do, but he’d always wind back up right where he started. This song holds a beautiful message that no matter what you do, people will never be satisfied so f*ck them and do what you want to do.
Here we get to slow down a bit which feels intentional. It feels as though Antonoff is allowing himself to grieve and channeling it through this song, like he’s trying to drag out this as long as possible to honour the one he’s lost. He wants to take his time and truly allow us to feel and hear the words he’s singing, ‘Sand bottles and essays outlive you, how wrong/ This room is a nightmare, this room is my god’. The song discusses everyday happenings as a family, ‘Well, maybe we should all move back in as a family/ Torture each other during TV hours’. it seems that Antonoff craves familial monotony to grasp onto what’s left of the person gone, ‘These hope-filled lies, these unearned traditions/ If you repeat them enough you can live with somebody who’s missing’.
‘dancing’ is stripped back and simple. An acoustic guitar plays gently in the background while Antonoff expresses his thoughts, although it feels like there is a hesitance within this. ‘You’re something and nothing all at once’ – this feels like he’s pleading for something long gone, yet a reluctance to go deeper prevents us as listeners from truly feeling the words. ‘Living with heartbreak/ Every joy is just a reminder/ Just a reminder/ That time is a trap/ No compass to get through’. Antonoff here appears to just be blurting his thoughts, uncontrollable and spiralling, yet knowing exactly what he wants to say in order to maintain some sort of secrecy.
This song is gentle and calm, and the theme of grief is carried on but in a different context. Here, it appears Antonoff is grieving the simple life he was living before fame, wishing he could sometimes he could just go back and live a quiet life. The twenty-eight-ish second instrumental is representative of this, allowing the music to speak for itself and allowing himself to be quiet, silent.
This song effortlessly blends classic instruments once again with a modern beat that is unmistakably Bleachers. This section of the album feels calm, thoughtful and allows us and Bleachers to slow down, take our time and just stop and listen. ‘I want the things that are hard to get easier/ I want easy light to guide you baby’. However, the lack of detail once again proves that although this is clearly an album intended for opening up and being raw and vulnerable, Antonoff is still wary about fully letting us in.
‘upstairs at els’ is a love letter to Antonoff’s recording home, Electric Lady Studios, synth-pop at its finest here; a perfect summer song. It is a celebration of everything Bleachers and how they choose to create music, ‘We are, we are, we are, we are what we say’. Antonoff is remembering everything he’s recorded at ELS and creates a sense of community with this song, bringing together everyone he’s created with. He mixes up all of this into this final song, ending the album on a high note.
Ultimately, the album is a defiant celebration of both Antonoff’s past and present, sonically coherent and unapologetically Bleachers. Although it does seem as times like he’s holding back, we’re still delivered an album that is unafraid to express itself in the ways it wishes to.
You can now listen to Bleachers’ new album, ‘everyone for ten minutes’ on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, and other streaming platforms.
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