Bleachers Reject Casualness in Fifth Studio Album, everyone for ten minutes.

After a two-year hiatus, Bleachers returns to the music scene with its fifth studio album, everyone for ten minutes. 

This album is noticeably different from the band’s previous works, which largely focused on encapsulating the feeling of heavy grief, trauma, and the desperate search for connection. Everyone for ten minutes, instead chooses to explore themes of creative sterilization in the face of a constantly changing technologically-heavy society.

The band’s frontman, Jack Antonoff, has long played a role in the modern music scene. Widely known for producing platinum albums for Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, and Lorde, Antonoff is no stranger to various music genres. 

The album is bold, passionate and at times, incredibly erratic. Largely drawing influence from early 80s jazz, country, and soul music, everyone for ten minutes is Bleachers’ most ambitious attempt to solidify itself among the indie rock scene. While scattered with many memorable lyrics, and eccentric melodies, the album sometimes fails to further develop lyrically.

Nevertheless, the album carries itself strongly within rushing beats, notable saxophone solos, and buzzing indie techno. Totaling 11 songs with a 39 minute runtime, the album experiments with a variety of different sounds, catering to almost every type of music enthusiast. At its core, it’s a love letter to the people and places that define Antonoff’s life– but it’s also a quiet plea for connection. 

Of the album’s tracks, 3 have a clear romantic undertone. However, they are all some form of a love song. The album’s opening title, for example, is an anthem for hazy, nostalgic love. 

“Sideways,” starts with a first date. It’s sweaty hands, nervous glances and the ever-persisting pit at the bottom of your stomach. It’s the anticipation at the top of the rollercoaster when you know the good part is coming. It’s about meeting someone you know will change your life. This is how Antonoff describes love. 

Bleachers carries that feeling straight into the next song, where nostalgia and longing are at the forefront. “The van,” dives head first to the inception of the band and also to that of Antonoff’s personal music career. Formerly associated with Outline, Steel Train and fun., Antonoff spent most of his early career touring in a van with his bandmates. This is the premise of the song. 

“The van” also begs for the return of a normalcy that Antonoff and by extension, Bleachers, can no longer have given his high profile within the music world. Notably, the song samples Blue Magic’s “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely,” another clear indication that Antonoff yearns for something beyond casual.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Antonoff mourns the loss of identity and genuine face-to-face interactions; to which he credits to the rise of technology. The album's namesake, for example, is a cheeky nod to the Airdrop setting on one’s phone, where you can accept an Airdrop from everyone for 10 minutes. 

In the interview, he states, “A lot of things that happen break my heart more than they fill me with rage…Everybody wants the same thing, which is this little piece of possibility, and the more it gets robbed, the more they start trusting the worst people.”

Overall, the album is perhaps fans’ closest look into Antonoff’s mind. It details chaos and vulnerability in a way uniquely different from Bleachers previous works. And of course, the album does have its noteworthy moments with other songs such as “you and forever” and“take you out tonight.” 

Everyone for ten minutes is available on all major streaming platforms. More information at bleachers.ffm.to/everyonefortenminutes.