Brian Fallon is finally back with new solo material, and he’s not going quietly. The Gaslight Anthem frontman has announced Not Bad For New Jersey, his first original solo LP in more than five years, arriving digitally on Thursday, September 10 via his own Lesser Known Records, with the physical release following on Friday, September 11. To celebrate the record, Fallon and his solo band The Painkillers are hitting the road for an ambitious world headline tour that spans North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom.

Produced by longtime collaborator Butch Walker (Green Day, Jesse Malin, Taylor Swift) at his Nashville-area studio, Not Bad For New Jersey trades some of Fallon’s usual restraint for something bigger, brasher, and unmistakably hook-driven. Fallon has cited Bryan Adams’ “Run to You” and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” as key sonic touchstones, and it shows — the album leans hard into power pop hooks welded to the blue-collar heartland romanticism that has defined his songwriting for close to three decades.

He didn’t make it alone, either. The record features a genuinely stacked guest list, including The Killers’ Brandon Flowers on the hypnotic “Love at the End of the World,” Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen on “Somewhere You Shouldn’t Be,” avant-garde guitar legend Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello) on “Wolf by the River,” and GRAMMY-winning country songwriter Lori McKenna on “On Good Terms.” Most of the album was tracked live with Walker handling bass, piano, and backing vocals, alongside drummer Eric Slick (Dr. Dog, Robyn Hitchcock, Adrian Belew).

The lead single, “Pearls,” is out now — a heavy-hearted but ultimately triumphant song aimed at those born into privilege. As Fallon puts it, “I’ve never been one to resent anybody for having certain advantages in life, and I don’t think there’s anything inherently pure in having to struggle. But I do think there’s real value in overcoming the odds stacked against you, because getting to the point of feeling like you’re actually worth something is one of the toughest mountains to climb.”

Stream “Pearls” here: https://open.spotify.com/search/Brian%20Fallon%20Pearls

Elsewhere on the record, “Nobody Likes You in NYC” is a blistering slab of punk written as a strangely tender serenade to Dee Dee Ramone from the perspective of his ex-wife Vera Boldis, while the title track “Not Bad for New Jersey” plays as a ragged love letter to Fallon’s home state. “I wrote that song looking back on my life the way you do after almost ending up in a crash,” Fallon says. “Like, ‘How did I make it through that?’ I really could’ve busted myself open somewhere along the way, but somehow I’m still here and I’m still in one piece.” “Better Before,” co-written with Juno Award-winning songwriter Donovan Woods, rounds out the early highlights as a portrait of unraveling romance.

The world tour kicks off September 10 at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg and runs through mid-November, hitting rooms like Woodstock’s Levon Helm Studios, Toronto’s Opera House, Detroit’s El Club, Chicago’s Riot Fest 2026, London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Manchester’s Albert Hall, and Dublin’s Olympia Theatre, before wrapping November 15 in Glasgow. Pre-sales begin Tuesday, June 23, with general on-sales opening Friday, June 26. Full routing and ticket details are at brianfallon.net/tour.

BRIAN FALLON & THE PAINKILLERS – LIVE 2026

SEPTEMBER
10 — Brooklyn, NY — Music Hall of Williamsburg
11 — Woodstock, NY — Levon Helm Studios
12 — Somerville, MA — Arts at the Armory
14 — Toronto, ON — The Opera House
15 — Buffalo, NY — Town Ballroom
16 — Pittsburgh, PA — Mr. Smalls Theatre
18 — Detroit, MI — El Club
19 — Chicago, IL — Riot Fest 2026
20 — Milwaukee, WI — The Rave Hall
22 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theater
24 — Denver, CO — The Oriental Theater
26 — Portland, OR — The Get Down
27 — Seattle, WA — Neumos
29 — San Francisco, CA — Rickshaw Stop
30 — Roseville, CA — Goldfield Trading Post

OCTOBER
1 — Santa Ana, CA — Observatory Orange County
3 — San Diego, CA — Casbah
4 — Phoenix, AZ — Crescent Ballroom
6 — Austin, TX — Mohawk (Outdoor Stage)
7 — Dallas, TX — Trees
9 — Atlanta, GA — Center Stage (The Loft)
10 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle
11 — Washington, DC — Black Cat
13 — Philadelphia, PA — World Cafe Live (Music Hall)

NOVEMBER
2 — Cologne, DE — Live Music Hall
3 — Munich, DE — Kesselhaus
4 — Berlin, DE — Astra Kulturhaus
6 — Hamburg, DE — Fabrik
7 — Antwerp, BE — Trix Club
8 — Amsterdam, NL — Paradiso
10 — London, UK — O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
11 — Manchester, UK — Albert Hall
13 — Dublin, IE — Olympia Theatre
15 — Glasgow, UK — University of Glasgow (Queen Margaret Union)

Pre-order and pre-save Not Bad For New Jersey now, and if you’ve been waiting five years for Brian Fallon to plug back in and let it rip — the wait is nearly over.