The Gaslight Anthem’s first single in nine years was appropriately called “Positive Charge.” Almost exactly three months later, the relatively recently reunited New Jersey band are positively charging into an album rollout for the first time in nearly a decade.
“History Books” featuring Bruce Springsteen arrives as a single from History Books, due out on October 27.
“When Bruce Springsteen said I should write a duet for us, I think my head exploded,” lead singer Brian Fallon said in a statement about the title track. “It will never get old to me that one of the greatest songwriters in the world, and one of my hero’s voices, will forever be captured in a song I wrote at a small wooden desk, in October, in New Jersey.”
Directed by Kelsey Hunter Ayres, the accompanying video captures small-town Americana — driving down backroads and dancing in cornfields. “I’m keeping time / One day goes by / I try to live till the next one,” Springsteen sings in his signature gravelly tone. “But these history books / Full of haunted looks / From people I don’t want to see again.”
“None of us wanted to make a very somber or serious record showing how much we’ve matured,” Fallon added in his statement. “We’ve all changed and grown and learned so much, but the overall mood was a feeling of excitement to be back together and making music that means something to us.”
Watch the “History Books” video above, or check out the tracklist and upcoming The Gaslight Anthem tour dates below.
1. “Spider Bites”
2. “History Books” Feat. Bruce Springsteen
3. “Autumn”
4. “Positive Charge”
5. “Michigan, 1975”
6. “Little Fires”
7. “The Weatherman”
8. “Empires”
9. “I Live In The Room Above Her”
10. “A Lifetime Of Preludes”
07/29 — Richmond, VA @ Over The James*
08/12 — Washington, PA @ Four Chord Music Festival*
09/14 — Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond*
09/16 — Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live at 20 Monroe
09/17 — Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest*
09/19 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues Cleveland
09/20 — Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
09/22 — Columbus, OH @ Bluestone
09/23 — Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory
09/24 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
09/26 — Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
09/27 — Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion
09/30 — La Vista, NE @ Astro Theater
10/02 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/04 — Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
10/05 — Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live Sacramento
10/07 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Boise
10/08 — Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Spokane
*Festival appearance
History Books is out 10/27 via Rich Mahogany Recordings/Thirty Tigers. Find more information here.