The Used

Title: Artwork

Release Date: 30th August 2009

The Used’s new album ‘Artwork’ finds the quartet pushing forwards with their self-declared brand of “gross pop” that melds jarring riffs with immediate pop hooks. The album’s first single ‘Blood On My Hands’ is out now.

Recorded primarily at Los Angeles studios The Lair and NRG between June 2008 and February 2009 with producer Matt Squire (Panic At The Disco, Thrice), ‘Artwork’ features eleven new songs that mostly focus on The Used’s raw, visceral power. ‘Artwork’ is The Used’s fourth album and their first since 2007’s ‘Lies For The Liars’.

The album’s first single ‘Blood On My Hands’ is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a pop-driven, sing-along chorus the next, ‘Empty With You’ surges with passion and gripping honesty, while ‘Cut Yourself’ balances the album’s predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, piano-driven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on.

“This record is more sincere,” says guitarist Quinn Allman. “It’s got a sound more reminiscent of the first record. Lyrically, it completely engulfs you and makes you feel safe but it’s all about feeling alone and empty and knowing there’s always a light.”

“This record is about coming together,” adds vocalist Bert McCracken. “Whether it’s through positivity or negativity, it’s about coming together through anything.”

A special limited edition CD/DVD format of ‘Artwork’ will be available exclusively through www.ukundercurrent.com/store. The package comprises a CD version of ‘Artwork’, a ‘behind the scenes’ DVD documentary and a twenty page booklet housed in a digipak. This format is completed with a new ‘Artwork’ t-shirt and the digital delivery of two new tracks: ‘In A Needle’ and the Save Yourself remix of ‘On The Cross.’ The trailer for the DVD can be viewed here.

A handful of the first UK fans to order this limited edition package will also receive a bonus signed and numbered 18" x 24" band poster.

The Used’s career has already encompassed two million albums sales in America alone, two Gold records (2002’s self-titled debut and 2004’s ‘In Love And Death’) and festival dates including the Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projekt Revolution, Give It a Name and Reading and Leeds. ‘Artwork’ represents a new chapter for a band that’s constantly sought to redefine the bounds of their music and have always successfully done so.

The Used recently played this summer’s inaugural Sonisphere Festival and will return for further dates in September.