“You’d leave the cities and chase bullet holes/That’s actually starlight/And in those rare moments you and I were brilliant/We were gonna be alright”
The next sentence may seem a bit polarizing, but I’m not willing to call it a hot take. The implication of that phrase is that it’s an opinion and as such can be argued against. The following string of words is one-hundred percent fact: Jack Antonoff is the best pop songwriter and producer of our lifetime. Bleachers is the best pop act of a generation. I mean, why else would we have wanted them for the cover of Substream Magazine issue 58?
Antonoff has been behind more hits than you may know. His tenure in the seemingly defunct supergroup Fun. was the catalyst to his success and acceptance into the mainstream and paved the way for his outstanding work with huge acts like Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Troye Sivan. His brand of pop-music flourishes with a sound that reeks so much of his east coast stomping ground that you can immediately tell when he’s had a hand in something.
He’s released two albums now as Bleachers; both of which are swirling worlds of their own nostalgia-infused pop spectacle. Their 2014 debut, Strange Desire, felt born of the kind of pop music that dominated the early 90’s. It was feel good, high energy, ready to take on the world pop music that borrows heavily from the dance-cry theory that he’s talked about in interviews. Last year’s Gone Now came from the same foundations but felt distinctly like the kind of grandiose record the world came to expect from a post-Sgt Pepper era The Beatles.
Today, thanks in no small part to the movie Love, Simon, we’ve got another incredible new song to add to our rotation. Antonoff has managed to blend all of his influences into this one beautiful stretch of euphoria and decided to call it “Alfie’s Song (Not So Typical Love Song).” The lyric video for which can be seen above.
