All three stomping, bluesy numbers are grouped closely in the middle of the record with only “Howl” to break them up. The only place where Handwritten stumbles is its pacing, but since the music is killer the whole way through, the damage is minimal. On the rousing opener “45,” he sings about moving on and how all his friends tell him to “turn the record over.” They also never abandon the shouts of “woah-oh” and “hey” that make for great sing-alongs and huge live moments. There are lines on ”Mulholland Drive” and “Mae” where he sounds like he could burst into tears at any moment.įallon’s biggest achievement is writing from a more personal place while remaining instantly accessible and writing about relatable themes. His voice comes in crystal clear, which isn’t easy for a cigarette-drenched baritone like his, and the emotion that shines through is astounding. The other area where Handwritten excels sonically is in Fallon’s vocals. They brought in producer Brendan O’Brian (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam) and the result is expertly presented, lush instrumentation there is mandolin and harmonica on “Keepsake,” Byrds-esque 12-string guitar on “Here Comes My Man,” and a string section on the acoustic “National Anthem.” It seems as though Gaslight has traded some of the bite of their punk roots for a bigger, maybe even hugesound. The theme that runs through The Gaslight Anthem’s fourth LP, Handwritten, comes on the second cut, the title track, “Every word handwritten/And with this pen, I thee wed/from my heart to your distress.” Singer and lyricist Brian Fallon is no longer writing about Angry Johnny and Maria instead he’s writing from a much more personal place, where he’s spilling his “blood on the page.” This lyrical shift, along with a stylistic maturation produced a fresh new album for a Jersey punk band trying to grow up.