The first time I heard The Working Title’s debut album About Face I was theirs, forever. What was it that got me? The Working Title are the whole package complete with textured guitar melodies, powerful, emotive lyrics and sensual, soul-stirring vocals, and the effect on me is like turning on a tap between my thighs. Joel Hamilton’s raw, earthy vocals will find your inner erotic being too, and hold you in its ardent, intense embrace for the whole album.
The Working Title’s brand of music fits somewhere between pop, alt.rock and indie rock with a unique blend of U2, Switchfoot and Foo Fighters. Their often driving, sometimes tender, always naked sound is best appreciated by putting About Face on repeat, lying on your bed in the pitch-dark, in nothing but your underwear, and letting it wash over you. You’ll be consumed by it. I was and still am. I even made it my number two album of the year.
When I first reviewed About Face a year ago I tried to score an interview with this incredible band; no luck though, as then label Universal Records, weren’t letting me anywhere near them. Now, after an amicable split with the label, The Working Title are unsigned and therefore qualify for the Band of the Week.
I recently spent some time chatting with frontman and lyrist Joel Hamilton. This South Carolina native, has spent the majority of his time since 2001 – when The Working Title first formed – touring, learning and perfecting his craft. Soft spoken, intelligent, with a charming southern politeness and natural reserve, he was deeply shy to start off with. But all Joel needed was some time to relax. Eventually we chatted about Dr Who – he had never heard of Dr Who, the freak – The Working Title’s split with Universal Records, touring and, most importantly About Face.
So Joel do you want to talk about the split with Universal?
Yeah. I’ll give you a little history on that. We were signed to Universal for about three and a half years. We had been a band for like – I’m really bad with time-lines so I’m just gonna’ wing it (laughs)-- maybe eight months or somethin’. We did a record on our own, we had it engineered.
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