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Loved and loathed in equal measure, accused of flattening everything into a single formula yet sought after by A-list pop stars such as Taylor Swift, Lorde and Lana Del Rey. His face may be less recognizable to the general public than those of the artists he works with, but Jack Antonoff is the key name in American pop of the last decade.

A little over a decade separates us from 2011, the year of the breakout success of his band Fun. with "We Are Young" (featuring Janelle Monáe): in the years since, Antonoff has increasingly devoted himself to production, racking up an impressive run of hits along the way — eighteen albums in the Billboard 200 top 10, four number-one singles in the US, eight Grammys, and more than a hundred gold and platinum records worldwide.

His sound is now ubiquitous, but Antonoff's own background is anything but chart-pop by design. Born in New Jersey in 1984 to a Polish Jewish family, pop's King Midas took his first steps in music through a love of alternative and indie scenes, playing in college bands and devouring records by Jesus And Mary Chain and Spiritualized, Mazzy Star and Mountain Goats, Rem, Green Day and NOFX. His other great passion is singer-songwriter rock, especially in its darker corners: Nico and Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Red House Painters. But his listening pedigree and inspirations also unfailingly include Fleetwood Mac and Beatles, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, and pretty much anything ever produced by Jeff Lynne. And, above all, Springsteen. The discovery of that elective affinity with the Boss's music didn't happen right away, but came around age twenty: before then, New Jersey's foremost musical son was, for Antonoff, simply part of the scenery, something too everyday to draw real attention. Later, he became the guiding light of his songwriting, to the point that his solo project, Bleachers, can rightly be seen as a fervent tribute to his own personal heartland rock in the style of the E Street Band.

As a songwriter, his first recordings date back to 2000 with Outline (punk rock) and, a few years later, with Steel Train (somewhere between indie rock and folk). His production debut came in 2009 on Fun.'s first album, a little gem of Seventies-inspired indie-progressive-power-pop that fit neatly into the so-called fabloo wave. Three years later, the smash success of "Some Nights" (likewise Seventies-leaning, but in line with the far more grandiose stomp rock of the time) catapulted him to international prominence and brought the first wave of collaboration requests. Carly Rae Jepsen, then Taylor Swift for a track on her acclaimed "1989", and from there Troye Sivan and Sia, Pink, FKA Twigs, Olivia Rodrigo…

Critical coronation, however, came with his full-length album work. The first was Lorde's "Melodrama", in 2017. Since then, Jack Antonoff has become the name to seek out — for those who can afford it — for a sound that's contemporary yet classic in taste (bordering on retro), able to feel radiant and larger than life while still holding onto something understated and nostalgic: in short, a subliminal indie aftertaste.

In a landscape increasingly dominated by hip-hop and its offshoots, Antonoff's style is perfect for artists seeking a subtly rock-inflected pedigree (and, some would slyly add, one that's white, well-off and comfortably progressive).

If one thing has defined his productions above all else, though, it's his bond with female voices, particularly within art-pop. His sumptuous work for Lana Del Rey (every album from "Norman Fucking Rockwell" to the very recent "Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd", with the sole exception of "Blue Banisters") has drawn heartfelt praise for its sound, at once majestic and understated. Perhaps even more so, however, his bittersweet touch comes through in Lorde's "Solar Power", suspended between hippie echoes and late-Nineties folk-pop nostalgia (try not to think of "Torn" while listening to the track included in the playlist). A die-hard Kate Bush fan, he has also worked effectively alongside St. Vincent (the albums are "Masseduction" and "Daddy's Home") and Florence+The Machine ("Dance Fever"); staying within art-pop, his work with The 1975 on "Being Funny In A Foreign Language" is also remarkable, staging an inventory of influences ranging from sophisti-pop to John Cale by way of Vampire Weekend.

More than one aspect of Antonoff's persona recalls another renowned New Jersey-born producer: Jon Brion. What the two have in common is an indie/alternative bent and a devotion to female art-pop (among Brion's best-known collaborations are those with Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple), but also the frequent drizzly shades in their soundscapes (in Antonoff's case, often in the sense of sun and rain at once), a shared obsession with the Mellotron (and, in Brion's case, with a fair number of other proto-samplers too), and even a shared apprenticeship in prog-power-pop (Fun. for Antonoff, Jellyfish's "Spilt Milk" for Brion).

Listening through the tracks in this selection, other recurring traits are bound to emerge. His fixation on Fleetwood Mac and Paul Simon often brings acoustic guitars to the fore, strummed—ever since his early days with Steel Train and Fun.—in bright, energetic chords. The intimate, singer-songwriter dimension is often cultivated through spare arrangements, but just as often spills over into triumphant choruses that heighten a song's dynamics. Key ingredients for the success of these explosions include highly singable refrains (at times almost caricature-like: the melodic hook of Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" runs to a grand total of two notes), stadium-sized drum tones, and a grandeur built on string beds and/or floods of Eighties-style synths (the Roland Juno is, by his own admission, the producer's keyboard of choice). Springsteen-esque chimes ("Choreomania"), synthwave pulses ("Getaway Car", "Anti-Hero", "Beautiful Trauma", "Want You In My Room"), piano chords used percussively ("How Dare You Want More") all help build climaxes that often recall the choral grandeur of Arcade Fire and their peers. Little remains, on the whole, of the harmonic inventiveness of his prog-pop beginnings, but the occasional unexpected chord tucked into this or that bridge proves that the Beatles' bag of tricks hasn't been entirely lost in the crossover to the mainstream.

A handful of forays into unexpected genres (from alternative r'n'b to revivalist disco) seem to confirm that, despite accusations of predictability, Antonoff's range of possibilities remains fairly wide. Other criticisms are less easy to dismiss: he plays many instruments, but truly excels at only a few (he's the first to admit he's a good guitarist, but far less satisfied with his skills as a drummer, bassist and keyboardist); his sheer omnipresence at the top of the charts is overexposing his style, and some of his rhythmic and melodic patterns bear a striking resemblance to earlier hits written by other artists.

As with any high-profile pop star, the list of detractors grows right alongside the list of fans. Those who've worked with Antonoff creatively swear he's the most respectful and pleasant guy on the planet, capable of putting artists at ease and helping them shape their own ideas, but online audiences are increasingly divided. Quinn Moreland dubbed him a "polarizing nice guy" on Pitchfork in a rather widely quoted article. Whether the moment has come for his golden touch to start wearing thin is something only time will tell. For now, the sample of his output offered by the playlist alongside this piece should be enough to convince anyone of the reach his imprint has already achieved.

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21/01/2026