The album produced four singles: "Unfinished Business", "Death" and "To Lose My Life", prior to its release, and "Farewell to the Fairground" in the months following.

", "Farewell to the Fairground", "From the Stars" and "Unfinished Business"; the rest of the songs were written and recorded during studio time.

[11] The album was released on 19 January 2009 in the United Kingdom on CD and 12-inch vinyl, as well as in a number of other limited-edition forms, including one housed in a green cardboard box.

Pre-orders bought from online retailer Play.com were packaged in a slipcase exclusive to that website, while the iTunes Store released the album with a number of bonus tracks and remixes previously only found as B-sides.

White Lies' official website packaged the first 500 purchases with a green companion booklet, containing studio pictures and individual essays written by members of the band and production team.

On 13 February 2009, the band announced the release of an instrumental version of the album, free with iTunes and physical purchases.