The Gaslight Anthem have shared their new single ‘History Books’ featuring their old friend Bruce Springsteen.
In addition to sharing ‘History Books’, the New Jersey rock band have shared details of an album of the same name. History Books, produced by Peter Katis, marks the first LP by The Gaslight Anthem in nine years since Get Hurt and is set to be released on October 27th through their own label Rich Mahogany Recordings.
Discussing the collaboration with Springsteen on the title track, singer Brian Fallon said: “When Bruce Springsteen said I should write a duet for us, I think my head exploded. It will never get old to me that one of the greatest songwriters in the world, and the voice of one of my heroes will forever be captured in a song I wrote at a small wooden desk, in October, in New Jersey.”
On the song’s message, Fallon adds: “I think forgiveness is so important on so many levels, but I’ve learned that in some cases you need to cut ties with the people who’ve done you harm.”
Hinting at the sound of History Books, Fallon says: “We didn’t have any interest in reinventing what The Gaslight Anthem sounds like. We wanted to stay true to ourselves but also let Peter do what he does best, which is to make things sound beautiful and sad and fun and exciting all at the same time.”
Following Get Hurt, The Gaslight Anthem parted ways before reconvening for a 10th-anniversary tour of the breakthrough album The ’59 Sound in 2018. After the run of shows, they again went their separate ways before officially reuniting on a full-time basis last year.
On their comeback, Fallon says: “When you have a band reach any level of success or popularity, that’s a gift. It’s truly a miracle to be able to do your art for a living. Having the band come this far and be able to still find inspiration and connection in our music is a treasure. We’re thrilled to be back, and we thank you for allowing us time to regroup.”
Speaking exclusively with Far Out last year, Fallon reminisced about Springsteen joining The Gaslight Anthem at Glastonbury and Hyde Park in 2009. “It’s funny because I don’t remember the Glastonbury one as much as I remember the Hyde Park one. I think probably because the Glastonbury one was so surreal. I imagine it’s like if a boxer is in a fight and doesn’t remember the fight until after because you’ve worked up to this, and it’s so intense that you’re just running on adrenaline, you’re looking over and thinking, ‘Is that Bruce Springsteen over there?’”
He added: “I imagine it must be like being on the moon and seeing the earth from the moon because when I looked out, I’d never seen that many people before in my life. There was like 190,000 people, and they all looked like little dots. It was crazy.”
Listen to ‘History Books’ below.
