It’s been quite a day for the great state of New Jersey. A few hours after the Devils unveiled a green sweater for the first time in their near 40-year history, as part of the NHL’s Reverse Retro series with Adidas, two titans of New Jersey music have teamed up for a new collaboration: Bleachers and Bruce Springsteen.
Not bad, Garden State. Not bad.
The track in question is “chinatown,” a new one from Bleachers that enlists the Boss for one spirited assist. It arrives today (November 16) in video form, directed by Carlotta Kohl, complete with another new track called “45” that just hit Spotify. Both tracks will be featured on a new Bleachers album landing sometime in 2021.
“‘Chinatown’ starts in NYC and travels to New Jersey,” says Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff in a statement. “That pull back to the place I am from mixed with terror of falling in love again. Having to show your cards to someone and the shock when you see them for yourself. Thinking you know yourself and where you are from… having to see yourself through somebody who you want to stay.”
Antonoff adds: “I started to write this song with these ideas ringing in my head. To further understand who you are pushes you to further understand where you are from and what that looks and sounds like. There are pieces in that that are worth carrying forever and pieces worth letting die. ‘Chinatown’ and ’45’ are both the story of this — ‘Chinatown’ through someone else, ’45’ through the mirror. As for Bruce, it’s the honor of a lifetime to be joined by him. He is the artist who showed me that the sound of the place I am from has value and that there is a spirit here that needs to be taken all over the world.”
Jersey sure.
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