Frontman Jack Antonoff first previewed the record two years ago at the Ally Coalition Talent Show but insisted it was still incomplete
All Jack Antonoff wants for Christmas is to be left alone. On Wednesday, the Bleachers frontman shared the new single “Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call” nearly two years after first premiering the record at the Ally Coalition Talent Show.
The somber song makes use of the heightened emotions surrounding connection during the holiday season but opts out of the joy and cheer often expected to arrive with them. Antonoff hasn’t gone full curmudgeon. He’s happy to still wish someone well even after they created a path of destruction on their way out of his life. But he doesn’t want that to be mistaken as an invitation to rekindle a flame.
“Oh golden boy you shined a light on our home/And at your best, you were magic, we were sold/So don’t tell them what you told me/Don’t even tell them that you know me/I would rather burn forever,” Antonoff sings on the record. “But you should know that I died slow/Running through the halls of your haunted home/And the toughest part is that we both know/What happened to you/Why you’re out on your own/Merry Christmas, please don’t call.”
Bleachers announced “Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call” earlier this week in social media posts showing Antonoff performing the record while snow falls around him, covering the band’s instruments in a sheet of white.
The first teaser for the song arrived on Christmas Day in 2022. Antonoff shared a long Instagram post with notes taken throughout the year. It started with Aug. 18 and spanned all the way through Dec. 25 with sporadic updates from the days in between. “Want to make the song a bit more xmas in feeling,” he wrote in a note dated Oct. 4. Referencing his annual music festival hosted in Asbury Park, New Jersey, he added: “Shadow of the City is to NY as jews are to xmas songs. We do it better cause we’re left out.”
