Bleachers’ ‘everyone for ten minutes’: A masterclass in what it is to love

Bleachers, the American indie-rock band formed and fronted by heralded producer Jack Antonoff, released their fifth studio album, everyone for ten minutes, today. Thematically, the work is entirely in keeping with the Bleachers tradition, examining love, loss, and identity, but with a fresh, mature perspective.

The band’s discography is one huge project, ever-developing in awareness, impact, and the role of the self in our evolving world – everyone for ten minutes is simply the next iteration in the saga of Antonoff’s confessionals of how to be. The album, although instantly recognisable as Bleachers, traverses new sonic ground, paralleling the lyricism’s focus on human interaction with fast-paced, tiresome society. The choice of instrumentation is undeniably symbolic of Antonoff’s position as an observer, seeing everything he has known slipping away. The record paints ephemerality as an optimistic opportunity for autonomy: our experience is not permanent, so be free.

Opening with this feeling of closure acts as an expert creative choice, immediately placing the listener in a mindset of reflection

The album opens with the atmospheric, archetypal Bleachers track, ‘Sideways’, foregrounding the themes of everyone for ten minutes in a succinct, passionate way. Bells lie atop chopped, distorted synths in the instrumental, akin to the outro of ‘About You’ by The 1975: opening with this feeling of closure acts as an expert creative choice, immediately placing the listener in a mindset of reflection. In a sense, the track links to ideas of fate, illustrating that everything Antonoff has been through thus far has led him, inevitably, to his wife, Margaret Qualley: “Gave me home when I had none / Gave me dreams and I dreamt on” leaves nothing unclear, the unconditional love the two hold withstanding all. As ‘Sideways’ fades out, reflection turns to immersion, melancholia engulfing the scene like a vignette, Antonoff inviting fans into his experiences, the remainder of the album now accessible.

The second track on everyone for ten minutes, ‘The Van’, feeds on the immersion created by the opener. Antonoff calls back to his past, “That’s the thing about loving your shadow”, referencing a track from Bleachers’ debut album, A Strange Desire, as the themes of nostalgia begin to encroach. The lyricism yearns for the past, while Antonoff’s more adult perspective polishes his perception, revealing the pitfalls present in all utopias – life is perfectly imperfect. ‘Take You Out Tonight’ echoes these ideas of the past being flawed due to its lack of connection, a fulfilled life, one which consists of true relationships. This track also centres on themes of mental health, Antonoff finding escapism in his partner – the one person who will always listen and help save him from the demons in his mind. ‘Take You Out Tonight’ ends with a guttural scream, exhibiting pure catharsis through the instrumental.

Listeners become almost overwhelmed with emotion, and then – from nowhere – four minutes of true love

‘You and Forever’ is the lead single from the album, and for good reason. It is quintessential Bleachers, riddled with social commentary, thematically capturing everyone for ten minutes beautifully. Sonically, the track is very similar to ‘Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call’, the 2024 track released between Bleachers and everyone for ten minutes, bridging the instrumental inspirations between the two works. ‘You and Forever’ explores the romance of finding the one person who makes the chaos of our contemporary world make sense, “Who gets by?” and “Who gets through?” revealing the impossibility of survival in the twenty-first century. The repetition of “forever” in the chorus is a blissful reprieve: life is possible when I have you. The refrain, much like ‘Take You Out Tonight’, explodes, Antonoff seeing the world around him come crashing down, but finding peace in his love – “I just saw the heavens open up / And forever / Darling, just you and forever”.

The chorus of ‘You and Forever’, breaking the angst of the verses, parallels the purpose of the track ‘I’m Not Joking’ within the overall record. ‘I’m Not Joking’ follows on from tracks such as ‘I Can’t Believe You’re Gone’ and ‘Dancing’, two heartbreaking, downbeat anthems about Antonoff’s experience of losing his sister, Sarah, to cancer when she was only 13 years old. In the former, he shares how “This room is a nightmare, this room is my god”, expressing how the memories of his sister haunt his every action, whilst being something he finds himself obsessed with, not wishing to let her memory die. “You repeat them enough, you can live with somebody who’s missing” perfectly encapsulates grief and the love we hold for those closest to us – we can keep their memory alive through our own action, the ones we love never truly leaving us.

‘Dancing’ features the lyric, “No, dying is not romantic this young”, applicable to grief, but also to Antonoff’s experiences of battling with his mental health, a reminder to listeners to persist through all hardship, blissfully unaware of what may come next. As such, ‘I’m Not Joking’ embodies a calm lake in the middle of a tornado: listeners become almost overwhelmed with emotion, and then – from nowhere – four minutes of true love.

The ballad is not romantic so much as it is reflective, the nostalgia which emerged at the top of the record becoming a persistent mindset

Given that four singles had already been released from the album, there were only seven tracks which are new to listeners this morning. ‘We Should Talk’ is by far the song which both surprised and impressed me most when listening: it is a country-dance hit which epitomises what it is to be. Antonoff’s relentless repetition of “We should talk” foregrounds the feelings of isolation many feel in contemporary society, a sense of community lost now that everyone’s best friend is a rectangle in their pocket, and their main form of communication is built of pixels, which try to ‘out-woke’ those of another. “Before everybody had a hot take from hell” drives this messaging home, Antonoff calling out for true connection, life not a battle to be the most politically correct, but simply an opportunity to meet and love others. ‘We Should Talk’ ends with the sound effect of a loading FaceTime call, someone eventually picking up – we can find a connection if we try hard enough; Antonoff has done so and cries out for everyone else to do the same.

everyone for ten minutes concludes with ‘Upstairs at ELS’, an upbeat synth-pop ballad which tracks Antonoff’s meeting with Qualley, and how their relationship has been soundtracked by the records he has created at Electric Lady Studios with his collaborators. The ballad is not romantic so much as it is reflective, the nostalgia which emerged at the top of the record becoming a persisting mindset: rather than looking back longing for times gone by, Antonoff lives knowing that everything is going to become a memory, and that he will look back on these times with fondness – why only adore life in retrospect, when you could love it now? “You’re not at it alone” is repeated as the album comes to a close, a reminder of how we ought to live, and how we ought to love, the ephemerality of existence inescapable and thus only a motivator to build relationships with ourselves, with others, and with art.

Antonoff’s songwriting, alongside the band’s talented instrumentation, teaches listeners how to love in a myriad of ways

Bleachers’ fifth studio album, everyone for ten minutes, is an incredible record, deserving all of the acclaim it will garner in the coming weeks. Antonoff’s songwriting, alongside the band’s talented instrumentation, teaches listeners how to love in a myriad of ways. Connection makes experience, honesty with yourself is the only mechanism by which we can get fulfilment. everyone for ten minutes is potentially the strongest, most mature body of work Bleachers have released thus far, and can only lead to greatness.

Recommended Listening: ‘We Should Talk’, ‘You and Forever’, ‘Upstairs at ELS’.

★★★★★

Listen to everyone for ten minutes here: