Earlier this year, we found out that Gaslight Anthem frontman Brian Fallon would be taking some time off from the working-class punkers to focus on his new side-project, the Horrible Crowes. Moving away from the sounds of his full-time gig, his new band promised to mingle strings and pianos, while answering what it would sound like if "Tom Waits, the National, the Afghan Whigs, Bon Iver, and Nick Cave made a band with Percy Sledge." The act are currently holed up in a New Jersey studio working on their debut disc, Elsie, and Fallon feels it's like nothing he's ever produced before.
"Radical is a good word to describe the record," Fallon told Spin. "It's definitely out there. There are song structures, but it's not what you expect from me at all. Someone's either going to get pregnant or want to steal a car listening to this record."
While the band have recorded 15 songs, they're aiming for a 12-track set once Elsie comes out in September. A tracklisting has yet to be made available, but Fallon describes "Go Tell Everybody" as sounding like Nick Cave covering Marvin Gaye, while the lyrics of "Mary Ann" tackle his religious upbringing. "That song would give a kid nightmares for months," Fallon said of the latter. "It's all about the end of the world."
Fallon goes on to say that he will be back together with his Gaslight Anthem buddies sooner than later, but is excited to get these new tunes out there. He also notes that it wouldn't have been right to have dropped these songs under the Gaslight moniker. They're too different for the fans to accept as such.
"It's all about knowing your audience," he explained. "When I buy a record by a band and it sounds completely different, I'm just like, 'Why didn't you change your band name?'"
"Radical is a good word to describe the record," Fallon told Spin. "It's definitely out there. There are song structures, but it's not what you expect from me at all. Someone's either going to get pregnant or want to steal a car listening to this record."
While the band have recorded 15 songs, they're aiming for a 12-track set once Elsie comes out in September. A tracklisting has yet to be made available, but Fallon describes "Go Tell Everybody" as sounding like Nick Cave covering Marvin Gaye, while the lyrics of "Mary Ann" tackle his religious upbringing. "That song would give a kid nightmares for months," Fallon said of the latter. "It's all about the end of the world."
Fallon goes on to say that he will be back together with his Gaslight Anthem buddies sooner than later, but is excited to get these new tunes out there. He also notes that it wouldn't have been right to have dropped these songs under the Gaslight moniker. They're too different for the fans to accept as such.
"It's all about knowing your audience," he explained. "When I buy a record by a band and it sounds completely different, I'm just like, 'Why didn't you change your band name?'"
