Jesse Malin, aka the former frontman of legendary punk outfits Heart Attack and D Generation who is now an acclaimed singer/songwriter as well as a friend of Bruce Springsteen and Ryan Adams, has been signed by Side One Dummy Records. This is particularly big news because Malin has already begun work on his first release for the label and is currently held up at at Sonic Youth’s Think Tank Studio in Hoboken, NJ with producer Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Lucero, Flogging Molly).

According to an issued press release, the yet-to-be-titled effort was written after a personality crisis and brief hiatus during which Malin attempted-among other things-stints as a charity auctioneer; a Las Vegas wedding DJ; and a documentarian of Rastafarian culture. But none of that, as Malin explains, has taken away from his one-of-a-kind intensity: “I wanted to mix the raw, loose energy that I got from playing in my early hardcore bands and the lonely feeling I get from traveling with an acoustic guitar.”

Expect to hear the album in early 2010, with many tour dates to follow.