A week and a half ago, Taylor Swift released Midnights, a fairly low-key pop album that’s putting up absolutely insane numbers. In its first week, Midnights sold more copies than any other album in seven years. It also made Taylor Swift the first artist ever to occupy all top 10 slots on the Billboard Hot 100 in a single week. Right now, the #1 song in America is “Anti-Hero” — the “everybody is a sexy baby” track and the first Midnights song to get a video. Now, Swift has teamed up with her main Midnights collaborator for a new version of “Anti-Hero.”
Taylor Swift recorded Midnights with co-producer and longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. In the past few years, thanks in part to his work with Swift, Antonoff has become one of the main characters in all of pop music. He’s achieved that level mostly by producing for other artists, but Antonoff is also the leader of Bleachers. Last night, Taylor Swift released a new mix of “Anti-Hero,” it’s labelled as featuring Bleachers, and it’s basically become a full-on Jack Antonoff duet. At first, that new remix was only available as a downloadable single, but it’s streaming now.
We don’t hear anything about sexy babies on the new version of “Anti-Hero.” Instead, Antonoff takes that verse, and he changes the lyrics: “Sometimes, I feel like everybody is an art bro lately/ And I just judge them on the hill/ Too hurt to hang out, talking shit about your famous baby/ Pierced through the heart of 90’s guilt.” Antonoff also juices the synthpop backbeat up a bit, and he sings backup throughout. Did “Anti-Hero” really need Jack Antonoff’s vocals? You decide! Listen below.
