The Gaslight Anthem last put out an album in 2014, and the nine years since have definitely not been quiet. A couple of historic elections, an insurrection and a pandemic later — not to mention the word “gaslighting” finding new life in the popular lexicon — the New Jersey rockers have returned with another record.

Gaslight spent most of that time on hiatus, which began in 2015 and was only interrupted by a brief reunion in 2018 to mark the 10th anniversary of their 2008 album, The ’59 Sound. In 2022, the group announced they were “returning to full time status as a band” and would be working on new music. The result of that is the album History Books, due out Friday, October 27.

Speaking with ABC Audio, drummer Benny Horowitz describes how all that’s happened in the world during Gaslight’s time away impacted what History Books became.

“There is some testament to unrest, I would say, on this record,” Horowitz says. “I don’t know if we woulda had the same feeling about it in 2014.”

“I do think just being people in the world with open eyes changes you,” he adds. “And as a result it changes your music and the art you’re gonna create, for sure.”

Beyond what was happening globally, a lot has happened to the Gaslight members in their personal lives while on hiatus.

“We’re all fathers now, which was a jump that not everyone had taken at that time, or were just starting to take,” Horowitz says. “I can just say, anecdotally, that that really changes the way you see a lot of things.”

History Books includes the single “Positive Charge.” Its title track features Bruce Springsteen.

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