''Strange Desire'' is the debut studio album released by American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

act

Bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...

, led by guitarist Jack Antonoff. The album was released on July 11, 2014, through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, and produced the singles " I Wanna Get Better", "Shadow" and "Rollercoaster".

Release

" I Wanna Get Better" was released digitally as the lead single from ''Strange Desire'' on February 18, 2014. It has peaked at number one on the ''

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Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart and number ten on the

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

chart, becoming Bleachers' most successful single to date. The song's music video – directed by actress and filmmaker Lena Dunham, Antonoff's then girlfriend – premiered on March 27, and depicts Antonoff as a troubled therapist. "Shadow" was made available for streaming on April 29, before being released as the album's second single on May 6. On May 15, ''Strange Desire'' was announced for release in July. Antonoff said the name was "the 2 words that perfectly title what this Bleachers album is as a documentation of my life as I can remember it at this point". "Rollercoaster" was released as the third single on June 10 and was also made available upon pre-ordering ''Strange Desire'' on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

. "Like a River Runs" was made available for streaming on June 27. ''Strange Desire'' was released on July 15 through

, and was made available for streaming the following day. Following the release, the group performed at a number of festivals: Wireless Festival, Wireless, Osheaga Festival, Osheaga, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands Music Festival, Outside Lands Music, Boston Calling Music Festival, Boston Calling Music and ACL Music Festival, ACL Music. "Rollercoaster" was released to radio on September 9. In late November, the group released ''Strange Desire (The Demos)'' for Record Store Day Black Friday, consisting of six album demos. In March and April 2015, the group embarked on a headlining US tour, dubbed Bleachers Come Alive!, with support from Joywave and Night Terrors of 1927. Following this, the band appeared at Rock in Rio festival in May. In June and July, the group went on a mixture of US, European and Canadian shows. In July and August, the group went on a co-headlining US tour with Charli XCX, titled Charli and Jack Do America Tour. On August 12, a music video was released for "Like a River Runs". The group was scheduled to go on a second leg of their tour with Charli XCX in September and October. However, on August 22 it was announced that the leg had been cancelled amid creative and personal differences.

Track listing

''Strange Desire (Japanese Edition)'' Notes * signifies an additional producer.

Personnel

* Jack Antonoff – programming, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, piano, vocals, string arrangement ("I'm Ready to Move On/Wild Heart Reprise") *Cyrus Grace Dunham – spoken word ("Wild Heart," "I'm Ready to Move On/Wild Heart Reprise," "Who I Want You to Love") *John Hill (record producer), John Hill – programming, drums, guitars, keyboards *Vince Clarke – programming, keyboards *Greg Kurstin – synths, electric guitars, drums *Sara Quin – background vocals *Jon Shiffman – drums *Emile Haynie – programming *Rachel Antonoff – background vocals *Andrew Dost – background vocals *Mae Whitman – background vocals *Grimes (musician), Grimes – vocals *Kurt Uenala – programming * Lena Dunham – background vocals *Yoko Ono – spoken word ("I'm Ready to Move On/Wild Heart Reprise") *Little Ricky Antonoff – guitar *Phillip Peterson – cello, string arrangement ("Who I Want You to Love") *Victoria Parker – violin

Charts

''Strange Desire'' debuted at No. 11 on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 21,000 copies in its first week of release.

Release history

''Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2''

''Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2'' is the first compilation album by American indie pop act

, released on September 25, 2015, as a companion to ''Strange Desire''. The album features every song from Bleachers' debut album covered by female artists, most of which signed with

. Its title references ''Terrible Thrills, Vol. 1'', a compilation album released in 2010 by Antonoff's previous band Steel Train.

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums Bleachers (band) albums Albums produced by John Hill (record producer) RCA Records albums Albums produced by Vince Clarke Albums produced by Jack Antonoff Albums produced by Greg Kurstin