Bone Island (Street Date: July 21, 2009)
File Under: Indie Rock

Biography
The rebirth of The Working Title has been a long time coming. Now in their eighth year, they began turning heads nationwide with their critically acclaimed EP, Everyone Here Is Wrong (which scored an impressive 5/5 score from Alternative Press) in 2003. They signed with Universal Records and released their major label debut, About-Face, in the summer of 2006.

After mutually parting ways with Universal in late 2006, the Charleston, South Carolina-based band went underground to regroup and refocus. One by one, members left over the next couple years, leaving singer and primary songwriter Joel Hamilton to work on a variety of musical outlets, including a solo project under his own name and a country-rooted band with his roommate. Following plenty of soul searching, songwriting, and studio-building, the songs that would become The Working Title's new full-length, Bone Island, began to take shape.

Hamilton locked himself in his newly-finished home studio with friend Jake Sinclair, who produced the record, and together they stripped down, rebuilt and recorded the record in three weeks. "I've lived in Charleston my whole life, so I pulled in some friends to play on the record and it was one of the best recording experiences I've ever had," he says. Rebuilding what he now describes as his "one-man band," the three-year-long labor of love finally came to fruition.

The music on Bone Island ties together an assortment of influences and ranges from college radio-friendly indie rock ("Physical Love" and "You Should Know") to some of the most raw, experimental music The Working Title has ever put out ("Dead Inside" and "Wolf") that would leave Jonny Greenwood blushing, to songs that will surely draw in longtime fans but give them enough of a twist to keep them guessing ("Sugar for My Sugar" and "Listen, Read, Decide").

"I often times find myself sore by people's closed-minded approach to things and being made to feel like everyone has to act one way or subscribe to some lump of beliefs, especially politically," Hamilton explains about "Listen, Read, Decide." "People act as though they have to believe certain things just because it's the most acceptable way to present themselves." The song encourages open-mindedness in order to find truth, which is what the musician asks from fans, both new and old, when listening to the new record. In the past eight years, The Working Title have toured relentlessly, playing with bands such as Counting Crows, Circa Survive, Mute Math, mewithoutYou, Lovedrug, and Augustana, among many others. Their music has appeared in multiple television shows and movies including the feature film American Wedding. Most recently, Bone Island's lead single, "Physical Love," appeared on TNT's Trust Me.

As far as a comeback album goes, Bone Island stands proudly as The Working Title's most ambitious and eclectic offering to date. Undoubtedly there is something for every listener on the record, but all done while challenging and experimenting with a variety of arrangements and styles, and intriguing instrumentations. Not content to let others place Bone Island in a box, Joel Hamilton built his own.

http://theworkingtitle.ning.com/