The Workday Release has become a familiar name on Biola’s campus with most of the members being Biola students and one album already out. And now with the release of its new and highly anticipated album “Farther from Familiar” on Feb. 28 at the band’s show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, prepare to hear a lot more about The Workday Release.

The band’s debut album “To the Beginning” was popular among students not only because the music is trendy and “singable” but also because the songs actually are meaningful. After displaying their talents on their first album with heart melting songs like “Love in a Box” and “Dragons,” The Workday Release has decided to take a new direction with their latest album.

“Farther from Familiar” is based on the book “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson, which tells the story of a boy named Ordinary who lives in a town called Familiar. Ordinary has a dream one day that challenges him to be a Somebody rather than being like everyone else he knew: a Nobody. Ordinary decides to take the journey to become a Somebody but he meets obstacles, faces an invisible wall of fear and his family becomes a hindrance and discourages him. Despite everything he continues with his journey and soon finds a boat that will take him farther from Familiar on his way to pursuing his dream.

The album, like their last, has taken a unique spin to aesthetic sounds. The opening track to “Farther from Familiar” is a prologue with the sound of rain that slowly leads up to their first song: “Set to Sea.” The track opens up with a melodic piano tune and leads up to lyrics that talk about being “farther from familiar” and “not like the rest.”

The third track on the album, “A Distant Shore” reminds us “at times [we] forget that this isn’t home” and emphasizes not settling with being comfortable “asleep under a tree” where it’s “safe and sound.” It is about the dream the boy has that inspires him to be more than what he is. The fourth track, “The Descent,” continues the story with an obstacle the boy faces and hopes to receive encouragement from a “reach to climb out from beneath.”

“As the Giants Fall” talks about the boy being encouraged by a breeze that stirs up his faith to move on from where he is and give up what he has held onto for so long.

“Everyone can identify with Ordinary’s character,” said lead singer and songwriter David Ottesdad in a blog he posted on the band’s MySpace. He reminds his fans that “Farther from Familiar” isn’t to shove their beliefs in their listeners’ faces but to “present life as we know it and dare to ask ‘is there more?’”

“The Conqueror” tells of the boy’s transition from being weak to gaining experience and being stronger than the obstacles he faces. Now he sees his obstacles as monsters but feels like they are so small from where he is standing. “Await the sun” is the last track and definitely ends the album very powerfully; stating that the boy has been drowning in a sea of lies and doesn’t know if he should compromise to what he has been hearing. He has been compromising throughout the story and asks for forgiveness because he has left God for his own flesh. The track ends with an the encouraging note to “push on through this wasteland, without it there is no victory.”

The Workday Release takes a much more mature direction with “Farther From Familiar” compared to their previous album, with the purpose of each song meant to encourage their listeners to stop being ordinary and start being somebody. It is clear that The Workday Release really wishes that their listeners would dare to cut through their apathy and hope that their new album causes a stir in their hearts.