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| Bleachers: Jack Antonoff |
Bleachers is the side project of Fun.'s Jack Antonoff and if you like Fun.'s work, then you'll really like "I Wanna Get Better." He's only released two singles (this song and "Shadow"), but the album will be coming out on July 15th. Jack's been working on this in secret for about a year until February 17th, the release date of "I Wanna Get Better," several tour dates, and a website. He's been working on his yet-to-be-released album, Strange Desire, while touring as lead guitarist of Fun., which must have been hectic. Jack has stated that he worked on it piece by piece in hotel rooms all over the world and would then meet up with producer John Hill (who has worked with Phantogram and Wavves) and musician Vince Clarke (a member of Depeche Mode and Erasure).
I can imagine Vince Clarke was a big influence in the 80's synthpop sound of "I Wanna Get Better." But I can also tell that the ecstatic but sad lyrics and vocals are all Jack Antonoff. I've always had an affinity toward that type of contradiction in music (Exhibit A: my recent obsession with Vampire Weekend) and I think that's why I enjoy this song. Also, the lyrics are really good. My favorite is basically the chorus, where he sings "I didn't know I was lonely 'til I saw your face/I wanna get better." The pace of the lyrics when he sings suggests that he is running away from the past. The lyrics of the chorus could be taken in two ways: one, that he didn't know he was lonely until he saw the girl of his dreams, or two, he didn't know he was lonely until he saw the face of a loved one who passed away. There have been speculation on whether that particular lyric is about his deceased sister, but whether or not it is true, I still like to think that's what he meant. Both the pace of the song and the meaning of that particular lyric drive home the fact that this song is about getting better, improving yourself, and learning from the past.
A small (inconsequential) criticism I have of this song is that there's too much synth (background noise) during the chorus which distracts from his vocals. It's true during the entire song also, but I can excuse that bit of it because the song is in the style of 80s pop songs which heavily feature that static-y background synth, but it's a bit too much for my taste. Other than that, I enjoy this song and hope you do too!
P.S: The music video was created by Girls (the show!) creator and star Lena Dunham, who's also Jack's girlfriend! Favorite quote from the music video: "Come back, I will make you an espresso." Jack's intonation amuses me.
Here's one of the most beautiful duets I've ever heard with a favorite of mine, Panic! At The Disco. You'll see Jack's picture there because it's a duet with Fun.!
RATING: 3 Records
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Photo: Rolling Stone
Information: Wikipedia, Rolling Stone, rock.rapgenius.com, Bleachers |
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