Bleachers
Gone Now
Release Date: Jun 2, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: RCA
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Album Review: Gone Now by Bleachers
Very Good, Based on 8 Critics
Based on rating A-
When Jack Antonoff first debuted Bleachers in 2014, the band seemed like a quaint side project for the fun. guitarist. But in the ensuing years, he’s become one of music’s most in-demand producers, minting pop gold for the likes of Taylor Swift and Lorde. Now, three years later, he’s returning to Bleachers once again -- and the result, Gone Now, is his most accomplished to date.
Based on rating 4/5
When Jack Antonoff started Bleachers, writing songs in hotel rooms while on tour with fun. he openly admits he didn’t really know what he was doing. Despite that, debut album 'Strange Desire''s emotional, open approach and his ability to craft gigantic pop songs made him a cult star. Second album ‘Gone Now’ finds him more experienced, more confident, more in-demand and poised for very big things.
Based on rating 7/10
With Bleachers' debut Strange Desire, Grammy Award-winner Jack Antonoff capitalized on the ‘80s nostalgia pop market he helped cultivate through his work with his band fun. and his collaborations with singers such as Taylor Swift and Sia. The album featured an abundance of synthesizers and anthemic choruses whose musical influence ranged from Modern English to Bruce Springsteen.
Based on rating 3.5/5
Jack Antonoff is a grown-up emo kid and a fully realized tune machine - an Elton John whose yellow-brick road always leads back to his sad bedroom. Bleachers' second LP exudes a kind of afflicted bliss, anthemic Eighties pop and R&B impressions built from the harried, diaristic isolation that era's Top 40 only allowed in at the margins. Lorde co-writes and sings on the synth-pop gusher "Don't Take the Money," and Carly Rae Jepsen shows up on "Hate That You Know Me," part snappy electro-pop tune, part industrial angst spiral.
Based on rating 7/10
Jack Antonoff is nothing if not a songwriter who likes to feel something and then express that sentiment as vividly and boldly as he can. Gone Now follows up his 2014 debut, Strange Desire, which was an unabashed love letter to the anthemic studio pop of the '80s. It's a market he's cornered so well that he's managed to become one of pop music's greatest collaborators by transmitting that gift of his through the work of big stars like Taylor Swift and Lorde.
Based on rating 6.1/10
Jack Antonoff has achieved a rare type of success in pop music by ignoring everything going on around him. As the sound of radio has grown sleeker and sexier, Antonoff's music remains bold and bombastic. He's worked as a producer and songwriter on music beloved on a wide scale (Sara Bareilles' "Brave," Zayn and Taylor's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever") and more cultishly appreciated (Tegan and Sara's "How Come You Don't Want Me," Grimes' "Entropy")--but you know his work when you hear it.
Based on rating C-
Producer, songwriter, and fun. band member Jack Antonoff's solo project, Bleachers, has never been everyone's cup of tea. From the moment "I Wanna Get Better", the first single off Bleachers' debut record, Strange Desire , dropped in 2014, critics bemoaned the over-dramatic sincerity, embrace of capital-F Feelings, and extremely synthy, saccharine production.
Opinion: Excellent
A look at must-hear, recently released music, as chosen by The Times' pop staff. SZA, "Ctrl" (Top Dawg Entertainment / RCA) Falling into music after walking away from studying marine biology, SZA -- born Solȧna Rowe -- released a pair of mix-tapes before she became the lone female voice of L.A. hip-hop powerhouse Top Dawg Entertainment and delivered her breakout 2014 EP, "Z." "Ctrl," like her earlier work, sees SZA navigating the complexities of love, sexual freedom, family, personal growth and self-esteem through the gaze of a woman who grew up in an Orthodox Muslim home.
'Gone Now'
is available now