After coming into the public eye with the success of his band, fun., Jack Antonoff began pursuing a solo career under the name Bleachers. With the release of Strange Desire in 2014, the reign of Bleachers began peaking at the number 2 spot on the Billboard 200. Three years later, Antonoff followed up his debut album with Gone Now an album chock-full of melancholy lyrics paired with upbeat backtracks.

When listening to the album from beginning to end, it is incredibly hard to tell when one song ends and the next begins as the flow from track to track seems to have been meticulously crafted by Antonoff. While each song provides a different meaning and feeling from the one before, each mesh together creating a perfect blend of longing, sorrow and hope.

The first single released from the album “Don’t Take the Money”, closely resembles the idea of Bleacher’s first single, “I Wanna Get Better”, as it contains darker, thoughtful lyrics about making important life decisions but gives the illusion of a happy, optimistic song with beats perfect for dancing. With the release of “Don’t Take the Money”, shortly before the release of the full Gone Now album, the tone for the future music of Bleachers had been set. Similar themes of thoughtful yet uplifting music can be found throughout the album on songs like, “Everybody Lost Somebody” and
“I Miss Those Days”.

In contrast to the usual upbeat, dance tune usually produced by Bleachers, “Nothing Is U” provides a sorrowful and depressing song about moving on from someone you never thought you would have to say goodbye to. The song provides insight into the deeper thoughts Antonoff has and how deeply loss has impacted him throughout his life. Despite the prevalent dark undertones throughout the track, the end of the song still provides somewhat of an uplifting thought that moving on is for the best when you have learned a lesson from the difficult experience.

While every song on Gone Now is a treasure, the real gem of the album is the last song, “Foreign Girls”. Beginning with a trumpet solo, the song is a perfect representation of Bleachers as an artist. With a soft and meaningful opening, the song quickly transitions into a reflective yet positive tune centered around personal growth and reflection. Among closer analyzation of the lyrics, the end of the song seems to get slightly darker by speaking in past tense and saying final farewells to influences on the artist’s life. The horns and drum contrast the dark lyrics with a more positive outlook, leaving the listener questioning the true theme of the song.

Overall, Bleachers followup album did an incredible job of implementing new sounds and ideas into the artist’s repertoire without becoming completely unrecognizable from their past music. The album does an excellent job of matching up to the uniqueness and feel of the debut album, Strange Desire. In future years, Antonoff will likely develop his musical abilities even further, creating more music for many, many people to enjoy.