Jack Antonoff Isn’t Bothered He Didn’t Work on Taylor Swift’s Last Album

By Charisma Madarang

Charisma Madarang

Jack Antonoff stopped by The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday morning ahead of the release of the Bleachers’ fifth studio album, Everyone for Ten Minutes. During the wide-ranging interview, the producer and musician discussed his relationship with 14-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift and their collaborative partnership — the pair have worked together since before Swift’s 1989 album through The Tortured Poets Department and her re-recorded versions of Fearless and Red.

So, when news got around that Antonoff wasn’t featured on her most recent LP, The Life of a Showgirl, rumors swirled online that they had a falling out. When Stern asked Antonoff about his absence on her 12th studio album, the producer said it didn’t bother him at all and that “I only feel grateful for the work that has happened.” He added, “Maybe it’s only because I write my own songs and sing them, but I understand that need to have different collaborators and jump around.”

Emphasizing his point, Antonoff said, “I don’t think it’s normal to have the same collaborators over and over, and when I’ve had it with people, I think it’s a weird miracle.”

Antonoff also discussed his “very deep” friendship with Swift and their songwriting process they call the “rant bridge.” “You spend a whole song — verse and chorus — you know, being super poetic and dancing around something… and then you get to this bridge, and you just crash the fuck out,” Antonoff said. “At that point you’ve earned it, so it’s almost like you can be so free. It’s something that I feel like is one of our very special things… We kind of egg each other on.”

Antonof’s interview with Stern aired on the same day Swift’s interview with The New York Times Magazine published on Tuesday. Swift also took the opportunity to address her friendship with Antonoff and said, “Jack Antonoff is a collaborator of mine and one of my best friends.” She also shared insight on their “rant bridge,” calling it a “stream of consciousness, endless pouring-out of emotion, intrusive thoughts, blended with metaphor, with discussion, with shouting.” She pointed to her 2014 song “Out of the Woods,” 2019’s “Cruel Summer” and “Is It Over Now?” from 2023 as examples.

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