RCA RecordsBleachers' debut album just got a makeover, courtesy of a few female vocalists. Jack Antonoff has enlisted the help of Elle King, plus his summer touring partner Charli XCX, pop star collaborator Carly Rae Jepsen and more for Terrible Thrills Vol. 2 -- an all-female re-imagining of 2014's Strange Desire.
"I love female voices. I wish I had one," Antonoff explains of the project. "When I write songs I typically hear things in a female voice and then match it an octave lower so I can hit the notes. That's why so many Bleachers' songs are sung so low... I've always written this way. So with that in mind I wanted to release a version of my record that spoke to how it was written and the ways I originally heard it in my head before I recorded and sang it."
"I think every record I make should have a female companion record to go with it," he adds.
Antonoff’s calling it "Vol. 2" because he's done something similar before. His former band Steel Train previously invited a group of female singers to cover their self-titled third album in 2010.
King covers Bleachers' "Reckless Love" on Terrible Thrills Vol. 2 while Charli XCX sings the single "Rollercoaster" and Jepsen tackles "Shadow." The album also includes a version of "Wild Heart" done by pop singer Sara Bareilles, with whom Antonoff wrote the hit song "Brave," and Sia's take on "Like a River Runs," which was initially featured on Bleachers' Like a River Runs EP released this summer.
Terrible Thrills Vol. 2 is available for free download today.
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