Jack Antonoff bounces his way through a diner in the video for Bleachers’ bouncy “Stop Making This Hurt,” the first single from the band’s upcoming third album, Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. The 10-track collection is due out on RCA Records on July 30, and in a statement, Antonoff said you can blame “Hurt” on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“‘Stop Making This Hurt’ is what you get when we are not allowed to go play for our people. It’s a line that had been ringing in my head for years,” Antonoff said about the song that features a number of Springsteen-esque characters. “I fell into a dark place after a loss, and then starting to have that feeling of rage towards the depression — which is when you know there’s a way out. Started looking at the people close to me in my life and finding all the ways we keep ourselves from breaking through.”
The single skates along on one of Antonoff’s signature infectious grooves, laced with joyous gang vocals and a shouted chorus that features the scene-setting opening verse, “Daniel puts the kids to bed/ They’re screaming/ Oh the gods must be crazy/ Well Jimmy’s on the road tonight/ She doesn’t recognize her country/ My father’s in the room next door crying with his ma at 65/ Well every time I close my eyes I just see you/ Written in big lights, you know what it says?”
The in-demand producer-songwriter (Taylor Swift, St. Vincent, The Chicks) shows off some fancy footwork in the clip directed by Carlotta Kohl, which was filmed at Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey’s old-school Bendix Diner. As for the buoyant chorus, Antonoff explained, “The pandemic hit and I got the band in a room and we played like we may never play again. At that point it took on another meaning. Found myself banging at the door of the next phase of my life and to open brings up all the darkness from the past and what’s holding you back.”
The band will hit the road this fall on a 33-date headlining tour slated to kick off on Sept. 11 at Antonoff’s Shadow of the City festival in Asbury Park, N.J.; tickets go on sale on Friday (May 21) at 10 a.m. local time. The band will perform the live debut of “Hurt” on The Tonight Show on May 26 in the first full band, in-studio performance on the show in over a year. “Hurt” follows up on the previously released tracks “Chinatown” featuring Springsteen and “45.”
Watch the “Stop Making This Hurt” video and see the tour dates and track list below.
Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night track list:
- “91”
- “Chinatown” (feat. Bruce Springsteen)
- “How Dare You Want More”
- “Big Life”
- “Secret Life”
- “Stop Making This Hurt”
- “Don’t Go Dark”
- “45”
- “Strange Behavior”
- “What’d I Do with All This Faith?”
2021 tour dates:
Sept. 11 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Shadow of the City
Sept. 12 — New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17
Sept. 13 –Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
Sept. 15 –Columbus, OH @ Express Live
Sept. 17 –Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
Sept. 18 — Newport, KY @ Ovation
Sept. 22 –Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
Sept. 23 — Philadelphia, PA @ Skyline Stage at The Mann
Sept. 24 — Washington, DC @ Anthem
Sept. 25 — New York, NY @ Gov Ball
Sept. 28 — Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewery Company
Sept. 29 — Tampa, FL @ Jannus Live
Oct. 3 — New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore
Oct. 5 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Oct. 6 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Oct. 11 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Oct. 13 — San Diego, CA @ Humphrey’s
Oct. 15 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
Oct. 16 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
Oct. 19 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
Oct. 20 — Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Oct. 22 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Event Center
Oct. 23 — Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom
Oct. 24 — Kansas City, MO @ Uptown
Oct. 26 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore
Oct. 27 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
Oct. 28 — Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
Oct. 30 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
Oct. 31 — Detroit, MI @ Fillmore
Nov. 2 — St. Louis, MO @ The Factory
Nov. 3 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
Nov. 4 — Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live
Nov. 6 — Harrisburg, PA @ Harrisburg University at XL Live
