"45", the first single from The Gaslight Anthem's new album, Handwritten (due 23 July), debuted earlier this week on Radio One and had the rare honour of being played three times.
Speaking to MusicRadar, frontman Brian Fallon said the track set the standard for the new album.
"That was the one. The one where we said - 'OK, we've got something here!'" said the singer. "I was in love with that song from the first moment. It came out in like five minutes. Then it was done. The lyrics just flew out."
Fans have already been comparing the single to the likes of prior hit Great Expectations (from The Gaslight Anthem's breakthrough record The '59 Sound) and Brian reckons they can look forward to a return the band's punkier roots.
"There's a few of those on the record - the song Howl is another one," said Fallon. "We'd been talking about how we wanted to go away and make this bluesy type of thing, but we never actually did!"
Other tracks set for the record include Too Much Blood, which has a "big, stomp-y blues riff" and Keepsake, which features a harmonica and Brian says is their "Neil Young song".
Although they're trying new ideas, the band are conscious not to travel too far down that road.
"We decided that if we're going to go in that direction and try and experiment a little, let's do some familiar stuff too. That way it's just fun [live]. We don't want to be concentrating through the whole show."
Keep an eye out for an in-depth interview with The Gaslight Anthem guitarists Brian Fallon and Alex Rosamilia in a forthcoming issue of our sister magazine, Total Guitar.
