Generally speaking, a new Springsteen album is always cause for excitement, especially in this writer’s tiny New Jersey household where The Boss has achieved demigod status along with Stephen Colbert and Batman. Bruce, after enduring the loss of fellow E Street Band members Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons – the men behind, respectively, the keys and the saxophone, arguably two of the most crucial components of the warm, vibrant E Street sound – has valiantly chosen to soldier on with his legendary E Street Band. Wrecking Ball, Springsteen’s 17th album, is due out March 6th, and first single “We Take Care Of Our Own” is available to buy today.

Appropriately, it’s a resilient midtempo rocker, subtly downbeat, but hopeful; the album’s pre-release press has identified it as a darker, more experimental departure for Bruce, and if “We Take Care Of Our Own” doesn’t necessarily reflect innovation, it certainly signals the thoughtful, minor-key bent we’re promised. We’ll see how the rest of the album fares on March 6th, but for now, “We Take Care Of Our Own” seems to cozy up comfortably to previous latter-era first singles like “Radio Nowhere” and “Workin’ on a Dream”.