You and Forever Things appear to be looking up for Jack Antonoff, the band leader/frontman of Bleachers. He got married to actress Margaret Qualley in 2023 and his personal outlook on life is leaning towards the optimistic side on the latest effort found here. The fifth studio album from Bleachers, called Everyone For Ten Minutes, was produced by Antonoff, and was recorded during the period of 2024-2026. The record is reflective, as much as it is an observation of a band growing more comfortable in their own skin, and it benefits from the cohesive nature of the songs playing off of each other. Coming off of the success of their self-titled record, Bleachers sound as focused as they’ve ever been on Everyone For Ten Minutes. While the new album doesn’t have the “highs” of the singles found on the self-titled effort, it’s a record that is meant to absorbed as a whole rather than the sum of its parts, and it continues to show commendable growth in Antonoff as a songwriter.
The LP kicks off with “Sideways”, a song that features a steady beat, warm synths in the background, and Antonoff’s trademark croon as more instruments get added into the mix to invite the listener into the world of Bleachers. The second verse of, “Now you’re all fucked up, yeah / Like a walking cash-out / Broke-down passage / Weekend fascist / You taught me how to run / And took me down with you / Dragged me into your hallway / Said, ‘I love you sideways'” paints a vivid picture of Antonoff’s view on married life and his outlook on life. The song doesn’t really feature a chorus, but it does a nice job of setting the stage for the reflective second song of “The Van.” It’s on the second verse that Antonoff reminisces, “I pulled into a Wawa in Philly in 2000 / Blue Magic coming from the speaker at the gas pump / All Jersey kids, we never learn to pump gas / So we sat there with the soundtrack / Now I’m on the way, in firehouse, glory days / Parked the van, spun through vehicle / Then those Drive-Thru years really went slow / Wawa lights in the rear view was making it.” Antonoff’s recalling his past of packing his bandmates together into a van seems to bring him joy and pride in seeing how far he’s come today. The song also features samples of Blue Magic’s “Just Don’t Want To Be Lonely” to bring full context to the name-dropping of the band in the second verse.
”We Should Talk” is built around some steady synths and a nice beat supplied by drummer Sean Hutchinson, while the sequencing of the record makes sense from following the narrative of “The Van”. Antonoff continues to explain, “We had a band, we had a life, we had dreams / In a van we wrote our own Bible supreme / Then you got a house, a lawn, a wife and a kid / And those dreams turned to memories and that’s where it ends,” as he seems to explain how as one door closes, another one opens for him, musically. Lead single of “You and Forever” features a repetitious vocal part that is found throughout the track, while Jack airs some of his grievances in the verses before getting grounded by his personal life and new wife as he endearingly sings in the chorus, “Darling, just you and forever / Now it’s just you and forever.” It’s a very touching moment in the set, and the album starts to gain momentum from this point on.
”Dirty Wedding Dress” is rich in the lore of Bleachers’ affinity for Bruce Springsteen-type of storytelling in their songwriting, and the band does a nice job of writing in this style here. The vibrant second verse of, “A dirty wedding dress is a promise / I knew it that night at the shore / And I knew it that night on the rooftop / I knew that she was from before / So we got married that August / And the neighbors all lost their minds / We had to board up all the windows and shoot out the drones / We took that sadness right from Saturday night,” brings additional context to the past music of Bleachers, while simultaneously diving into Antonoff’s personal life with fond memories of each. As the song unfolds, Bleachers continue to impress as each instrument is purposefully added to bring more clarity to their approach.
”Take You Out Tonight” is drenched in an organ and some vocal effects from Antonoff, and it the early-going of the song plays out like a spiritual moment in Everyone For Ten Minutes. After the organs cut out, Bleachers get into a comfortable Springsteen-esque groove in the middle section as the band kicks into a speedier tempo. I found the section of, “Don’t take the money and run, just be honest about your faith / Don’t make the kids pay for your loan and what you think you’re made of, babe / I’m made of east coast music, I’m made of ghosts from the past / And I’ve been gone since I was fifteen, earning my soul to crash,” to be particularly insightful and powerful as Antonoff continues to reflect on his past while still giving himself, and others, rich advice to follow.
”I Can’t Believe You’re Gone” is a somber ballad about losing someone close in your life, and it’s filled with vivid, personal lyrical imagery. The verse of, “There’s the car that we drove when you were still around / Some clothing and wallpaper, a Burger King crown / Sand bottles and essays outlive you, how wrong / This room is a nightmare, this room is my god,” is very well-written and it rewards the listener for being a fan of the project for this long. “Dancing” begins with some acoustic guitar plucking until the steady riffing on the repeated lyric of “Do you think about it when you think about it?” begins to give the song some legs. The verse of, “Living with heartbreak, every joy is / Just a reminder, just a reminder / That time is a trap, no compass to get through / If living with heartbreak is just a reminder / Scaling an ice wall, asking for patience,” finds Antonoff going between his trademark croon and a higher register vocally, and he showcases his innate star quality.
”She’s From Before” plays out like a folk, jangly track that finds Antonoff pondering what the future holds. Lyrics of, “I wanna know the one that I’m named for / I want to understand this shame / I want a son named for my hometown / I want to end the mourning game,” bring further context to his headspace and overall outlook to this point in his life. The song is different from the rest of the material on the record, but it assists with bringing in some variety to the set that may have been lacking on the last album.
”I’m Not Joking” is a jazz-type of song that allows for the music to dictate the direction of the lyrics, as Antonoff explores this comfortable stage in his life. He sings on the opening verse, “I’m not the type to ask you about last night / Or old pickup lines you’ve heard / And I’m not the type to ask you about the ones who came before me, baby / I’m just glad you’re mine and only, babe / And I’ll hold every door for your love,” and it’s clear that he’s still swooning from his marriage and partnership with the love of his life. The album closer of “Upstairs At Els” plays out like an 80’s type of bar song that has a great bass line and a bulletproof anthemic chorus of, “What you call heaven, I call a fight / You got a dream, I got a night / Me and my friends drinking on a roof / We are, we are, we are, we are what we say / We got a world and we got a way / Me and my friends drinking on a roof.” It’s one of the best songs Bleachers has written to date, and it leaves the listener with just the right impression as we close the book on the latest chapter of this band. This reflective fifth studio album is an endearing collection of songs that continue to accelerate the musical craft of Jack Antonoff, and he showcases why he’s widely considered one of this generation’s greatest songwriters.