''The Guilty Office'' is the seventh studio album by

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

indie band, The Bats, released in New Zealand on 1 December 2008, and in the United States on 23 June 2009.

Recording and New Zealand release

Recording of ''The Guilty Office'' began on 25–26 August 2007 in the newly built National Grid Studio in Heathcote Valley,

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. The band had a few songs prepared from a demo session earlier in 2007, as well as some new songs written by Robert Scott. Scott has said that the recording process was "...pretty much the same as the others. I had a big bunch of songs and the rest of the band chose the ones they liked and we got them into shape and put them down live in the studio." The tracks "Guilty Office" and "Two Lines" grew out of improvised jams. The rhythm tracks for the album were recorded by John Kelcher. Additional tracks and mixing and mastering were recorded by Paul Keen at Longfellow Studio, while the strings, harp and accordion parts were recorded by Mike McLeod at the Masonic Lodge in

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

. The album was released in New Zealand by Arch Hill on 1 December 2008. The cover art is by band member Robert Scott. The video for "Castle Lights" was filmed in London by Hector Hazard, whereas the first video, for "Like Water in Your Hand", was simply shots of light reflecting off water ripples.

International releases

The album was released internationally by the following labels: * Australia – Mistletone * Sweden – Kning Disk (limited edition of 450 numbered copies) * United Kingdom and Europe – Yesboyicream * United States – Hidden Agenda (23 June 2009)

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guilty Office, The The Bats (New Zealand band) albums 2008 albums Flying Nun Records albums