In the heartland American punk-rock gospel of The Gaslight Anthem, you “ain’t supposed to die on a Saturday night”. So sang a 28-year old Brian Fallon in 2008, on the title track of what many consider to be his group’s magnum opus - The '59 Sound. In 2009, sales of The '59 Sound doubled after the group were hastily joined onstage at June’s Glastonbury festival by a fellow son of New Jersey - Bruce Springsteen. They performed a rendition of ‘The ’59 Sound’ that marked a highpoint in the band’s career at the time, and a reinvention of a song that Fallon first wrote while sitting on his mother’s bedroom floor.
A 15-year old Fallon had started writing his first songs 13 years prior to the release of which he recorded live at cafes and compiled for a 1997 cassette called . Since those early days Fallon has made ten albums with and without The Gaslight Anthem, alongside five other short-lived recording projects, including The Horrible Crowes. The Gaslight Anthem’s latest album was released on October 27, nine years after their previous release, 2014’s . While were largely fueled by a divorce that Fallon lived through, presents a more varied palette of inspiration. Topics include Fallon’s current mental health journey and associated experiences with therapy and medication, joyous reflections on surviving hardships and living in the now [see: ‘Positive Charge’] and bitterness about not putting up personal boundaries, such as on the album’s title track, which features a vocal performance from Bruce Springsteen. With characteristic lyrical openness and honesty, coupled with uplifting stadium rock riffs, the positive charge of has made its impact.
