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bananaofswifts · 4 years

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“I’m on some new shit,” Taylor Swift sings in the opening lines of Folklore, announcing with a smile and a wink that the many Taylor Swifts of her previous seven albums — even the not-quite-year-old Taylor of Lover — can’t come to the phone right now.

Swift has always conceived of herself, first and foremost, as a singer-songwriter. But she’s never presented herself to the world that way with quite so much clarity as on Folklore, the surprise LP that she spent the past four months recording with a who’s who of atmospheric indie rockers, including Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon. The most surprising aspect of the album, though, is just how ultimately unsurprising it feels to hear Swift on her new shit, singing over fluttering High Violet trumpets, morose Dessner piano runs, and gently thundering 22, A Million programming glitches.

That’s because Swift has spent the past 15 years developing an internal world of melody and song structure so sui generis that her songs now belong more to her than to whatever sonic palette she’s working in at any given time. Take “Better Man,” the 2016 power ballad she wrote for country group Little Big Town, or “This is What You Came For,” the EDM hit she co-wrote for Rihanna that same year. Dressed up slightly differently, either song could have fit seamlessly on any of Swift’s last three albums — because at heart, neither of them is a country song or an EDM song, so much as they’re both Swift songs.

Swift could have chosen any number of directions for her latest step forward, but on Folklore she clearly relishes working in a realm that might be a little closer to the way she’s always heard her own songs in her head. “Just like a folk song/Our love will be passed on,” sings the woman named after James Taylor. Even if these songs don’t actually present as folk music in any strict musicological sense, it makes sense that Swift has chosen folk music as the broad aesthetic template for her deepest dive into writing third-person character sketches. “I found myself not only writing my own stories,” she said of her new album, “but also writing about or from the perspective of people i’ve never met.”

Like many who were melodramatic twenty-somethings in the late aughts, Swift has likely spent time with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, the album that redefined folk in the popular imagination a music of deeply felt cabin-in-the-woods seclusion. Faced, then, with an unfamiliar period of physical isolation under quarantine, Swift did what anyone in her position might: She called up Justin Vernon and started writing some sad songs.

Swift’s ability to effortlessly try on new sounds and styles comes from her lifetime of devouring every record she could get her hands on. As with all of her albums, there are hints of her wide-ranging listening all over Folklore: the Dashboard Confessional singles she obsessed over as a teenager; the light Avril Lavigne and Colbie Caillat singer-songwriter pop that helped inspire her first two albums; the Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, Band of Horses, Tunnel of Love-era Springsteen, and Flaming Lips tunes she expressed love for on the Speak Now tour; and yes, the various National and Justin Vernon-related songs she’s been putting on her own curated playlists since as early as 2017. (In 2018, Swift shouted out the National’s “Slow Show,” which features the band’s all-time most Swiftian couplet: “You know I dreamed about you/For 29 years before I saw you.”)

As such, Folklore doesn’t signal any sort of declarative pivot from the past, so much as it opens up a new world of future costumes that’d surely fit her just as well, from pop-punk (as others showed on ReRed, last year’s scrappy garage-rock remake of 2012’s Red), to the spectral Ingrid Michaelson indie-pop she always seems one step away from diving into headfirst, to the dobro-laced Patty Griffin roots record Swift seems bound to one day gravitate towards a decade or two down the line.

There’s no question what genre any of those records would ultimately belong to — her own. But part of the fun of watching her genre-hopping is in the way she enjoys playfully embodying the outward aesthetics of her latest collaborators. In the case of Folklore, she’s been referring to newfound musical buddies like Vernon in public since at least 2014, and you can hear her taking up the role of a record-collector nerd even as she commands her own sound. On the chorus to “Cardigan,” Swift tries on her best version of Matt Berninger’s wine-tipsy “This is The Last Time” mumble, singing the word “I” as “i-i-i-i.” “Your favorite song was playing/from the far side of the gym,” she sighs later, alluding to the National’s 2017 song “Dark Side of the Gym,” one of Swift’s favorite of their tunes. (Leave it to Taylor to write a line about the fact that she placed a certain song on an Apple Music playlist.)

That line comes 14 songs into the album, on the Dessner-produced “Betty,” a rootsy, harmonica-driven number that, on one hand, feels like one of the precious few purely acoustic tunes you might expect from an album with a title like Folklore. On the other hand, the melody of “Betty” feels like an amalgamation of Swift’s entire balladeering career: the tender, “Tim McGraw” loping verse phrasing, the folk-pop Fearless pop turn in the chorus, the gently ascendant Speak Now bridge. “I showed up at your party,” Swift sings in the song, addressing, in part, any skeptical genre gatekeepers wondering what she’s doing with her newfangled sounds. But Swift has the last laugh once again. She knows she’s been at the party, lurking over on the dark side of the gym, the whole time.

#taylor swift #folklore

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dustedmagazine · 6 years

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Dust Volume 4, Number 9

The Long Hots

We enter the pumpkin latte season with a full slate of short reviews, covering both anticipated and overlooked releases from rock, pop, jazz, punk and unclassifiable genres. Contributors this time included Bill Meyer, Ethan Covey, Jennifer Kelly, Isaac Olson, Jonathan Shaw and Justin Cober-Lake.

Baked – II (Exploding in Sound)

II by Baked

Baked, out of Brooklyn, belches a lava flow of viscous guitar sound over sweetly unassuming pop melodies. If J. Mascis ever wrote a song to impress the women of Look Blue Go Purple, if Beat Happening experimented with a whacked out set of fuzz pedals, it might sound a bit like this – in short, it’s fetching DIY pop with serious muscles under the anorak. When soft, vulnerable tune meets the bristling heft of feedback, there’s a palpable fizz, never more so than on “Hope You’re Happy,” sung by Isabella Mingione. “The Hartlett Anthem” does the same trick with Jeremy Aquilino singing tender hooks over the droning surf of dissonance like a sleepier Teenage Fanclub. This particular recording is Baked’s third, after 2014’s Debt and 2017’s Farnham but earns the “II” by being the second in Exploding in Sound’s Tape Club series. That’s undoubtedly why it’s so short, but brevity is tantalizing. These five songs leave you wanting more.

Jennifer Kelly

Big Blood — Operate Spaceship Earth Properly (Feeding Tube Records)

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Massachusetts-based Feeding Tube Records favors such a frantic release schedule that it’s easy to miss the consistently strange, often delightful albums they spit out. Earlier this summer, the label dropped Operate Spaceship Earth Properly, a fresh & freaky 45-minutes of scuzzy psychedelia from Big Blood. The Portland, ME duo of Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin — joined here in some capacity by their daughter, Quinnisa — have been delivering properly furry trips since the 1990s, originally as founders of Cerberus Shoal. The spin this time involves a tip of the hat to authors such as Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin via a science fiction-inspired song cycle. Yet, concept aside, the songs have serious teeth, stomping forward in a heady slop of bullying riffs, martial drumming and Kinsella’s third-eye rants. It’s headphone music for the deep forest, a turned-on reality-strip far more properly psychedelic than the jammed-out noodling frequently paraded by those dressed in thrifted tie dyes. Listen at your own risk; be changed.

Ethan Covey

Manu Delago—Parasol Peak (One Little Indian)

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Manu Delago, a classically trained percussion who specializes in the steel-drum-like instrument known as a hang, isn’t doing things the easy way. For this album and the accompanying film, he convened a chamber group of seven people and led them, instruments and all, on a mountaineering expedition in the albums (pity the cellist). These eight tracks were recorded outside, in all kinds of weather, using natural elements like sticks, rocks and trees for additional textures. The result is a rather lovely blend of percussion-dappled Reichian minimalism, augmented by the sounds of water, thunder and wind. The music works its way to the summit, beginning in the leafy, sun-warmed environs of “Parasol Woods,” where reedy, breathy clarinet and pensive trombone catch the light sparkling off intricate webs of tonal percussion. By “Ridge View,” sounds have turned chillier and more remote; flute and chimes are buffeted by gales of wind. A mournful, solitary whistle frames “Listening Glacier,” a trebly coating of ice on a grounding drone of cello, but there is exuberance and accordion wheezing triumph in “Parasol Peak.” Fingers and lips must be pretty frozen all round by this point, but a warm, pulsing joy emanates from this brass-y, syncopated reel. The question arises: why would anyone do such a difficult thing? But the answer is right there in the accompanying video. Because it was beautiful, because it was hard and because it made a sound no other new chamber group could make, with woods, mountains, stones and physical effort built right in.

Jennifer Kelly

Ethers—Ethers (Trouble in Mind)

s/t by Ethers

Ethers spun out of the late Chicago drone-punk-garage outfit Heavy Times, pulling front man Bo Hansen and bassist Russell Calderwood into this new enterprise and adding Calderwood’s wife Mary McKane and drummer Matt Rolin. Along the way, Hansen et al seem to picked up a heightened appreciation for melody and hook (and percolating keyboards thanks to McKane). “It’s a Rip-Off” lurches and jitters on slashed guitar riffs and hard, straight up and down drumming, but there’s an undeniable lilt in its fuzzy tune, and “Emily” balances bluster and tenderness in equal parts. If Heavy Times drove a post-punk freight train through a long, shadowy tunnel, Ethers breaks out into sunshine on the other side of the mountain, the darkness in the music but not all of it. “Something” ends the disc on a high note, chiming guitar notes streaking like meteors down to a burnt-bare beat, an intoxicating smell of sleeping gas all around.

Jennifer Kelly

Iron & Wine — Weed Garden (Sub Pop)

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Sam Beam has somehow become a master of the EP. Last year's full-length Beast Epic from Iron & Wine received critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination, but it never really settled the way much of his earlier work had. Given that Weed Garden draws from that album's leftovers, the new EP could have been a quick toss-off to turn a few dollars on otherwise dead songs. Happily, though, Beam delivers a strong, quick set. Where he had traded in resignation, this one starts with an immediate rally, the call in “What Hurts Worse” to “become the lovers we need.” His awareness of brokenness becomes the grounds for a fragile restoration, his voice and the smooth production serving the message.

A few years old but until now unreleased, “Waves of Galveston” brings the necessary precision to a complicated situation, and the continuing Croce-like sound fits the mood perfectly. “Last of Your Rock 'n' Roll Heroes” brings a steady bounce to a series of impressions that eventually give way to the darkness. Closer “Talking to Fog” uses language to resist pending dissipation, offering gentleness among hardness and “reaching out” despite knowing safer options. Beam's writing relies on visuals until he makes blurry images come into focus, even if he maintains that “it's hard to find.” It's a strong statement from Beam, an album's worth of care in a little EP, again.

Justin Cober-Lake

The Lavender Flu — Mow the Glass (In The Red)

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Heavy Air, The Lavender Flu’s 2016 debut was a double album of feel-bad rock sent forth from the Pacific Northwest damp to soundtrack an endless bummer. Chris Gunn, formerly of The Hunches and Hospitals, assembled the album at home, on analog tape, building and reworking the tracks into one of the year’s most impressive collages of sound. The second time around, with Mow the Glass, the approach is different. Here, Gunn is backed by a proper band — brother Lucas Gunn, former Hunches drummer Ben Spencer and Eat Skull’s Scott Simmons. Those folks all lent a hand to Heavy Air, yet here they are in the same room, playing together to the buzz of warmed amps and a view of the sea. The album is trim and clear, focusing Gunn’s aesthetic without losing sight of the mindset that got him here in the first place. A couple of cuts from the first LP — “Demons in the Dark,” a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Like a Summer Thursday” — reappear with fresh coats of paint. “You Are Prey” begins tipsy and unraveling, with the band chasing a whip of stereo-panning guitar, before setting into a reverb-rich ballad. The mood is subtlety sunnier throughout, like a crack of light on the horizon viewed from the soak of a storm.

Ethan Covey

Long Hots — Monday Night Raw (Self-Released)

Monday Night Raw by Long Hots

You should listen to Trouble Anyway, the new LP by Rosali Middleman. Middleman is a talented songwriter, but part of what makes Trouble Anyway so listenable is its lush instrumentation, all-star band, and pristine production. Middleman is also a member of The Long Hots, and their debut tape, Monday Night Raw sounds, by contrast, like it was recorded on a Fisher-Price tape deck by a band with about three weeks of musical experience between them. It’s glorious. The members of Long Hots are rock and roll lifers, so Monday Night Raw’s amateurism is both affected and effective, and sure to satisfy anyone who thinks Here Are the Sonics!!! is too slick. Of particular note is the ten minute “Boogie Trance,” which delivers exactly what it promises, no more, and “Die Die Die,” the chorus of which goes, you guessed it, “Die, Die, Die, Die.”

Isaac Olson

Paul Lydon — Sjórinn Bak Viò Gler (Paul Lydon)

sjórinn bak við gler by Paul Lydon

When you’re on your own, labels don’t mean much. Paul Lydon is an American musician who has been based in Reykjavik, Iceland since the mid-1990s. His discography is small, and he’s never made the same record twice. He’s sung alone and with a partner, in English and Icelandic, and kept the accompaniment varied each time. On Sjórinn Bak Viò Gler there is no singing at all, but it’s the most lyrical music of his recording career. The album’s title translates as The Sea Behind, and given Iceland’s prevailing clime you might want to keep it that way until there’s a closed door behind it and you. Lydon’s touch on the instrument betrays close acquaintance, and it’s easy to imagine him spending hours playing and ruminating on what he’s played. It doesn’t fall easily into any genre; its stream-of-consciousness flow is too perambulating for pop, too elaborate for minimalism and it doesn’t fall easily into any classical form. So let’s not worry about what it isn’t, and instead appreciate its confidently open-ended melodies and comfortably solitary mood.

Bill Meyer

Thee Open Sex — White Horses (Sophomore Lounge)

THEE OPEN SEX "White Horses" by Thee Open Sex

Indiana might seem like an odd place to give birth to a combo committed to diving deep into Krautrock concepts but think again. You’ve got highways and flat land that doesn’t afford much of a view once you’re over the cornfields; what could be more practical than motoric music? The Open Sex makes music that’ll whittle away the road miles, and White Horses is cut precisely to get you 35 minutes closer to home. That’s how long guitarist John Dawson and drummer Tyler Damon bear down on a groove that’s more metronomic than equine. Three guests use their playing as a foundation for a wheeling superstructure of squelchy notes and spacey textures. This is white line meditation music; be sure to stay mindful of the weight of your foot upon the gas.

Bill Meyer

Rob Noyes & Ryan Lee Crosby — Modal Improvisations on 34 Strings (Cabin Floor Esoterica)

[CFE#68] Modal Improvisations on 34 Strings by Rob Noyes & Ryan Lee Crosby

On record and in concert, 12-string guitarist Rob Noyes displays a clarity of intent that you don’t often see from an artist who is young and new. But not only does he keep his picking clean and lyrical through rustic rounds and mystery-laden excursions, he keeps his head in the presence of a very different guitarist. Ryan Lee Crosby plays chaturangui, a sort of hybrid veena / dobro guitar developed by Debashish Bhattacharya. The chaturangui is suited to the swoop and chime of Hindustani ragas, and that’s how Crosby plays it. Noyes embroiders the contours of his partner’s voluptuous lines and pushes back with pure-sound strumming. He manages to sound quite supportive and engaged without compromising the very different character of his playing. This short (not quite 28 minutes) tape is a typically atypical Cabin Floor Esoterica product; home-dubbed and hand-wrapped, a first edition has already gone out of print, but a second run is imminent.

Bill Meyer

Riesgo — Demo MMXVIII (Self-released)

Demo MMXVIII by RIESGO

It’s not often that you can claim a tape is both a throwback to and a continuation of a vital movement in punk, but listen to Riesgo’s new demo. You can hear both of those historical trajectories as soon as “Lobxs” kicks it. The bass’s rubbery warbling and the guitars’ razoring buzz recall the initial tones of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown.” Then Carlos Ruiz starts singing, and the tape’s sound snaps into sharper focus. Chicago’s South Side, Latinx punks, thrashy attitude: Riesgo have picked up the baton from the excellent and underappreciated Sin Orden, who in turn had received it from the nigh-legendary Los Crudos. (Or, in a couple cases, band members just held onto the baton: Ruiz sings for Sin Orden, and Jose Casas played guitar for Los Crudos.) Razacore is alive and angry. That’s good news, and very timely. Given our current national moment — the current bullshit hating on Latino American identity and the reactionary responses to the violence in Chicago — this bolus of pissed off, politically fierce punk is precisely what’s needed. “Ahógate” is a standout track. The vocals and lead guitar are pretty unhinged, while the rest of the band hammers away at a compelling hardcore riff. It’ll sound great in a sweaty basement. Viva, Riesgo!

Jonathan Shaw

Rocket 808 — Digital Billboards b/w Mystery Train (12XU)

Digital Billboards b/w Mystery Train by Rocket 808

Rocket 808 is the latest incarnation of the garage guitar phenomenon John Schooley, whom you might remember from the Revelators (or if not, enjoy this set of Billy Childish covers laid to tape in a record store in Columbia, MO in 1996). A frequent solo performer (his website is called John Schooley and his One Man Band), Schooley does it all on these two tracks. “Digital Billboards” overlays the cheerful cheesiness of a vintage drum machine with incandescent flares of whammy and deep reverbed guitar darkness. Surf rock, sure, but evil and skeletal and scary, with shades of Suicide in the wild ghostly automatism. Side two’s “Mystery Train” amps up the rockabilly, the drum machine cranked to the breaking point, the guitar arcing and spitting in turbulent bursts. Schooley sings on this one, steering classic blues lines around hard bends until they lift off the pavement. This sort of blues-referencing, early-rock-aware music always has an element of parody, but Rocket 808 seems less performance-art-ish than Bob Log III or Heavy Trash. It’s dark and dangerous, a heightened reality rather than a pose.

Jennifer Kelly

Sam Weinberg — A/V/E (Anticausal)

A/V/E by Sam Weinberg

Sam Weinberg has contributed some raw sax to some harsh ensemble settings, particularly the duo W-2 and various gigs with Weasel Walter. But when he closes the door to his Brooklyn apartment, things get real. The sounds from outside his window and on his kitchen table prove equally valuable as he constructs a mutating environment out of inscrutable industry, passing traffic and critters, the mechanical parts of his horns and some vigorously scoured surfaces. This is the stuff of life, or at least Weinberg’s life. Layer upon layer of sonic activity coexists like the residents of a big old NY apartment building, close in proximity yet not particularly interested in each other.

Bill Meyer

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jeremystrele · 5 years

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When Art Meets Music – 14 Stand-Out Album Covers Featuring Australian Art

Creative People

by Elle Murrell

Ken Done in his home studio. Photo – Nikki To for The Design Files.

‘Painters and musicians have long been friends and collaborators with varying degrees of success, but in my experience, there is tremendous mutual respect and almost an awe of each other’s craft,’ tells artist Luke Scibberas. Austinmer-based band Shining Bird enlisted the Hill End-based artist in creating the cover of their 2016 release, Black Opal. Luke first became acquainted with the members of this experimental pop band by reputation (‘their excellent work’) and then by social media.

In another collaboration, Collingwood-based artist Stephen Baker created artwork for The Smith Street Band‘s fourth album, More Scared of You than You Are of Me, which was a first for the band and ‘extra special’ for Stephen. ‘Having known the members for some time, I definitely had an intimate connection to the artwork and their personalities,’ Stephen explains. A portrait of the singer, Wil Wagner, was decided on unanimously for the album cover. Additional new art, all in Stephen’s artistic style and a specific colour palette, was used across a range of merchandise for the release, from covers to posters, T-shirts and even 50 hand-painted guitar pedals!

From the other perspective, Alexander Gow, frontman of Melbourne-based indie rockers Oh Mercy approached Ken Done by email seeking something ‘vibrant and bold’ for their sophomore album back in 2011. ‘I was also very aware of his place within the Australian psyche. Knowing the title was going to be Great Barrier Grief, I knew it’d be a perfect match,’ Alexander explains. He visited Ken’s gallery at The Rocks. ‘I met his family, and we just had a chat about art and music. It was enough to make him say, “Yeah, I’ll do it.”’

When creative forms like music and fine art coming together, there is an opportunity for mutual growth and the reaching of new audiences. While mass distribution may at first seem at odds with an exhibiting painter’s priorities, both Luke and Stephen found their collaborations to be incredibly enriching.

‘I think it’s a great thing if you trust the musical artist you’re working with, and the result is in keeping with your ideals and aesthetics. Being inspired by someone else’s work is also exciting, having the trust of a musician’s opus to render or capture visually is an amazing experience!’ praises Stephen.

‘One can’t fathom just how the others wrest their respective works. I’ve worked with and maintained friendships with pop musicians, classical and contemporary composers and music is a constant in my studio, adding a lyrical inflexion to my visual story,’ adds Luke. ‘May it ever be so.’

We take you through some stand-out collaborations below. *With more than 11,377,191 albums released at the time of writing, we’ve no doubt missed some of your favourites – please pop them in the comments!

Crayon works by Ken Done. Photo – Eve Wilson. Ken Done‘s artwork on the cover of ‘Great Barrier Grief’ by Oh Mercy.

KEN DONE – ‘Great Barrier Grief’ by Oh Mercy

Paul Kelly reviewed this 2011 album as like ‘sailing on a beautiful boat on a calm blue sea under a cloudless sky. Only there’s a shadow moving under the water. Something dark and hidden ready to strip the flesh from your bones before they wash to the shore’. So, we can see how it was this ocean-pun-inspired release that got the attention of the renowned, water-loving artist.

Jonathan Zawada – ‘Skin’ by Flume.

Jonathan Zawada – ‘Hi Viz’ by The Presets.

JONATHAN ZAWADA – ‘Skin’ by Flume and ‘Hi Viz’ by The Presets

The Perth-born, LA-based artist is fascinated with ‘the intersection and blend between the artificial and the natural’. With early roots in web design, Jonathan has expanded to into commercial graphic design, illustration and art direction and more recently object and furniture design, sculpture, video, installation and painting. He has taken out two Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIAS) for album artwork (Flume’s 2016 release (pictured above) and Apocalypso by long-time collaborators The Presets in 2008) as well as presented solo exhibitions and installations in contemporary galleries around the world.

‘I worked across the full breadth of Flume’s Grammy-winning Skin album life cycle,’ explains Jonathan of his album and single artwork, merchandise, promotional videos, creative direction of the live show, and even an exhibition of audio/video works and printed silks presented in LA and Sydney. ‘The work aimed to explore ways of making the digital become organic and find tension points between comfort and discomfort,’ he adds.

(left to right) Dane Lovett and Dave Snow – ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ by Eskimo Joe. Graeme Base – ‘Steal the Light’ by The Cat Empire. Jack Vanzet – ‘Bloom’ by Rufus.

DANE LOVETT + DAVE SNOW – ‘Black Fingernails, Red Wine’ by Eskimo Joe

Melbourne-based artist Dane Lovett (who opens a new exhibition next week) teamed up with Dave Snow on the 2006 release by the Fremantle-formed alternative rock band. The artwork, stylised portraits of the three-piece, was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Cover Art (and took out the Single of the Year for its titular track).

GRAEME BASE – ‘Steal the Light’ by The Cat Empire

You may recognise the style of this cover from your childhood, more specifically the book Animalia, illustrated by legendary author and artist Graeme Base. The Melbourne-based creative worked with the alternative rock band on their sixth studio album, which features his signature, magical animal art.

‘At college, I had always wanted to be the guy who did the record covers,’ reflected Graeme when he spoke to The Garret Podcast. Though he missed out on a job at a major record label, we’re glad he got a chance in 2013 to collaborate with what couldn’t have been a more fitting group!

JACK VANZET – ‘Bloom’ by Rufus Du Sol

The creative director and multi-disciplinary artist has created everything from music festival branding to identities for tech companies and restaurants. then there is, of course, the record cover art, including the 2016 chart-topping album from alternative dance RÜFÜS DU SOL, which was nominated for an ARIA for Best Album Artwork.

Jack is also a recording artist himself and boasts further artistic collaborations with the likes of Childish Gambino, The Australian Ballet, Vance Joy, Chet Faker to name a few.

Stephen at work in his studio. Photo – Sam Wong for The Design Files. Stephen Baker – ‘Birthdays’ by Smith Street Band.

Stephen at work in his studio. Photo – Sam Wong for The Design Files. Stephen Baker – ‘More Scared Of You’ by Smith Street Band.

STEPHEN BAKER – ‘More Scared of You than You Are of Me’ by The Smith Street Band

The Collingwood-based creatives and friends worked together on the 2017 rock release, which expanded to single covers and a host of merchandise.

‘The cover art had to reflect the honesty of the lyrics that had been written by Wil Wagner, the lead singer of the group,’ explains Stephen of the album collaboration.

Right sections of Brett Whiteley‘s artwork Alchemy, 1972-1973.

Brett Whiteley – ‘Alchemy’ by Dire Straits.

BRETT WHITELEY – ‘Alchemy’ by Dire Straits

The British rock band released live album Alchemy in 1983, featuring an adapted section from an original painting, also entitled Alchemy, by artist Brett Whiteley.

The epic oil-and-mixed-media painting was created between 1972 and 1973 and spans across 18 wood panels (203cm x 1615cm). Regarded to be a self-portrait, it is currently in the collection of the Art Gallery of NSW and you can read an insightful essay about it here.

The cover of the Dire Straits album includes the far-right section of the artwork, with the addition of a guitar with lips held by a hand.

Luke Sciberras studio. Photo – Robyn Lea. Luke Sciberras – ‘Black Opal’ by Shining Bird.

LUKE SCIBERRAS – ‘Black Opal’ by Shining Bird

The Austinmer-based experimental pop band selected Luke Sciberras’ artwork, Buffalo Country for their 2016 release.

This painting came about after ‘a wild night spent on the edge of the Katherine River in the Northern Territory, full of rumblings and myths of buffaloes and crocodiles but also stars and poetic gloaming,’ Luke tells. He believes it was a perfect match; ‘It’s dark and earthy but has a warmth that I think suits the album nicely’.

Tin & Ed – ‘Built on Glass’ by Chet Faker.

Julian Hocking – ‘Television’ by City Calm Down.

TIN & ED – ‘Built on Glass’ by Chet Faker

Melbourne-based creatives produced photography, art direction and design for Chet Faker’s debut LP.

‘Through a series of still lifes, the artwork talks about the impermanence of objects, memories and relationships. We’ve used objects that are millions of years old and others that are man-made and very new to create an expanded sense of time and history. The series also explores a number of themes from the album, one of which is strength and fragility and how these two things can co-exist,’ they explain of the collaboration, which saw them awarded the 2014 ARIA Award for Best Cover Art.

JULIAN HOCKING – ‘Television’ by City Calm Down

The Melbourne four-piece will release their third album next month, and have enlisted Melbourne-based artist to create art for its cover. Julian is known for his richly conceptual exhibitions of mixed-media abstract and figurative works.

Karen Lynch – Civil Dusk by Bernard Fanning.

James Drinkwater – ‘Paint’ by Holy Holy.

KAREN LYNCH – Civil Dusk by Bernard Fanning

An analogue collage artist who uses paper, scissors and glue to reinvent vintage imagery into surreal retro-futuristic landscapes, Karen worked with Bernard Fanning on his 2016 solo release.

The album’s name is drawn from a photography term, civil twilight, ‘[talking] about the light in the sky when the sun has gone below the horizon, but you can still make out all the objects’ and is a direct reference to the core theme of decisions and their lasting consequences.

Bernard’s wife came across Karen’s work on Instagram and he found her style to fit ‘perfectly with the lyrical themes’.

JAMES DRINKWATER – ‘Paint’ by Holy Holy

The Newcastle-based painter’s work spans painting, sculpture, assemblage and collage. He teamed up with Melbourne-based duo for their sophomore record album, and they made a film about their artistic collaborations.

‘James’ paintings are richly patterned like an intriguing carpet – the shapes varied and inventive, the colour subtle with strong contrasts of light and dark and warm sonorous passages. As James says, they are about memory and intimacy and one’s eye can wander through the paintings imagining a multiplicity of images in this richly layered world,’ describes his contemporary, artist Elisabeth Cummings.

Reg Mombassa – ‘Garage’ by Mental As Anything.

Reg Mombassa – ‘Foggy Highway’ by Paul Kelly & the Stormwater Boys.

REG MOMBASSA – ‘Garàge‘ by Mental As Anything + ‘Foggy Highway’ by Paul Kelly & the Stormwater Boys

Before he co-founded new wave/pop-rock band Mental As Anything, Chris O’Doherty studied art, and exhibited his own paintings in a now-iconic signature style.

Though he is widely known for his work with Mambo and Greenpeace, the Sydney-based artist has also created several covers for his own band, as well as other notable musicians including Paul Kelly (2005).

Chris draws inspiration from ‘the wind, semi-professional birthday clowns, heavy machinery and the behaviour of domestic animals’.

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