Strange Desire is the debut studio album released by American
indie pop act
Bleachers, led by guitarist
Jack Antonoff. The album was released on July 11, 2014, through
RCA Records, 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.[10][11] It has peaked at number one on the BillboardAlternative Songs chart and number ten on the
Hot Rock Songs chart, becoming Bleachers' most successful single to date.[12][13] 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.[14] "Shadow" was made available for streaming on April 29,[15] before being released as the album's second single on May 6.[16][17] 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".[18] "Rollercoaster" was released as the third single on June 10[19] and was also made available upon pre-ordering Strange Desire on the
iTunes Store.[20] "Like a River Runs" was made available for streaming on June 27.[21]Strange Desire was released on July 15 through
RCA Records, and was made available for streaming the following day.[22]
Following the release, the group performed at a number of festivals:
Wireless,
Osheaga,
Lollapalooza,
Outside Lands Music,
Boston Calling Music and
ACL Music.[18] "Rollercoaster" was released to radio on September 9.[23] In late November, the group released
Strange Desire (The Demos) for
Record Store Day Black Friday, consisting of six album demos.[24] 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.[25] Following this, the band appeared at
Rock in Rio festival in May.[26] 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.[27] On August 12, a music video was released for "Like a River Runs".[28] The group was scheduled to go on a second leg of their tour with Charli XCX in September and October.[27] However, on August 22 it was announced that the leg had been cancelled amid creative and personal differences.[29]
Track listing
All tracks are written by and produced by
Jack Antonoff and
John Hill, except where noted
Terrible Thrills, Vol. 2 is the first compilation album by American indie pop act
Bleachers, released on September 25, 2015, as a companion to Strange Desire.[37] The album features every song from Bleachers' debut album covered by female artists, most of which signed with
RCA Records. Its title references Terrible Thrills, Vol. 1, a compilation album released in 2010 by Antonoff's previous band
Steel Train.[38]