This one takes the prize for Most Brain-Meltingly Detailed And Confusing Illustration Your Correspondent Has Attempted, Ever. The album it illustrates - "1900" by Brighton song & soundsmiths Caramel Jack - floated my boat mightily on the first listen a few months back, and then grew and grew. It's not even out until next year, but it's already a valued old musical friend.
It's lyrical stomping ground being London, and the band's visual aesthetic being heavily informed by arcane found imagery, the original notion for the sleeve was a collage of London architecture from different periods, a mixture of photography, old etchings and the like, tumbling together in much the same "river/estuary/sea" composition as above. 'Didn't take long for me to decide to cop out and illustrate it instead, obviously. The lights/ghosts rushing through the streets weren't planned; they pretty much just happened. There was likely a touch of behind-the-scenes inspiration going on there, probably something to do with the - ahem! notebooks at the ready, trivia geeks - twilit Castle Town part of the last Zelda game.
You can treat your ears to "Buttercups" and "Bed" on CJ's myspace page.
1 comment:
Nelson, it's a beautiful sleeve, and one that I can't wait to see rendered in its full 12-inch glory when someone realises that a limited-edition, gatefold-sleeve, audiophile-quality vinyl print *has* to happen. Good work, sir!
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