As some of you may remember, a couple of years ago I provided the artwork for the cover of Scenes of Mild Peril, a fourteen track , live-in-session CD/DVD, by the band, The Scaramanga Six. Well, those Northern music monkeys are at it again - this time bringing out a concept album called 'Chronica', the name of a mythical and dystopian island where life is hard and society is reduced to base behaviour and the populace crave superficial fixes. Like a kind of possible near-future Britain, I guess - although, if the The Jeremy Kyle Show is any indicator, it looks like we're virtually there already.
Once again I've
been tasked with providing the artwork but this time the album, as well as
being available on CD, will also be coming out as a gatefold sleeved,
heavy-duty 12" vinyl. So for this one I'll be producing three artworks -
ones for the front and back cover, and a double sized piece for inside the
gatefold sleeve.
Rather than go
for a literal illustration of the themes behind the album's concept and aspects
of the song lyrics (which I thought might end up looking a bit obvious or clumsy)
I decided to create something that hopefully captured the sense of alienation
that this dystopian environment would foster. My initial thoughts were of
something akin to a contemporary take on Bosch but with a touch of Cronenburg.
With this starting point in mind I then turned to a collection of line drawings
that I'd made (used to adorn the outside of my recent sculpture, Tattooed Tumour Box) of a sprawling flow of biomorphic creatures and machines, and
decided to adapt some of them for use on the album's artwork.
I've already
finished the artwork for the front of the cover, and here you can see it
alongside some of the early production stages. As I have a fondness for working
with found materials I decided to paint the album artwork on a piece of vintage
plywood packing crate (courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum), which I had
collaged with more old found materials. Obviously the image will be cropped
down for the album cover but I thought that I'd leave the designer of the cover
enough scope work in any necessary text.
For more info
on the The Scaramanga Six check out their website or Facebook page.
