Bleachers Premiere New Song for NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk Concert’ Series

Jack Antonoff reunited with his Bleachers bandmates at Electric Lady Studios, where they recorded their upcoming album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, to perform a few songs from the record for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

Kicking things off with an unreleased song, “91,” Antonoff sang and played the piano in an outdoor space outside the studio, backed by his bandmates Mikey Freedom Hart on keys and Zem Audu and Evan Smith on saxophone. Antonoff ended up having to ditch his signature glasses after the first song, but the band continued on through “Stop Making This Hurt” and “Chinatown” (sans the Bruce Springsteen feature) using the same sparse musical arrangement. Wide shots of the band’s performance were interspersed with grainy close-ups shot on several video cameras placed throughout the space.

Last week, Antonoff teamed up with Jason Isbell for a split seven-inch single for charity, in which they covered each other’s songs: Isbell covering Bleachers’ “45,” and Antonoff covering Isbell’s “Dreamsicle.” All proceeds from the single will benefit the Ally Coalition, which Antonoff founded with his sister, Rachel Antonoff, to help provide support to LGBTQ youth. Bleachers will release Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night on July 30th.