When it came time to choose the cover for Wet Leg's second album, the British indie rock band gathered up items that might serve as inspiration—including velvet worms sewn by guitarist Hester Chambers, a huge head of hair from a video shoot, and lizard-like gloves—and headed to Airbnb.
“I wanted it to be both super girly and feminine, but also completely creepy,” said singer Rhian Tisdale, the film's art director. Moisturizer cover with Iris Luz and Lava La Rue.
“It’s a juxtaposition, I don’t know, it just creates something memorable.”
The final image, inspired by photography from that weekend, earned Tisdale, Luz and La Rue a Grammy nomination for Best Album Cover, a category that will be awarded this year for the first time in more than 50 years.
Other nominees are Bad Bunny. Debi, take more photos.Tyler, the Creator ChromocopyPerfume genius Glory and Joe The essence. The award goes to a project's artistic directors—and this year, recording artists are included in the nominees in all cases except Glory.
In recent years, covers have been judged as part of the best recording package category, which takes into account all physical materials and images. Package for Brotherwith its color green permeating pop culture, last year saw Charli XCX, Brent David Freeney and Imogen Strauss win Grammys.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Grammy.com that the separation is an attempt to recognize the cover's influence in the digital age. It also fits with the academy's goal of recognizing more artists who are shaping music, Mason said.
For creative teams, the revived award expands the possibilities for creating visual worlds of music.
“When a campaign cover hits the mark,” said award-nominated photographer Neil Krug The essence“It's part of the language and structure of what makes a great record great.”
Capturing energy
Defining Portrait Chromocopy — a monochrome close-up of Tyler with his face hidden by a mask — was the last photo taken during the photo shoot. Louis (Punch) Perez, the director of photography, said the look in Tyler's eyes stood out.
To achieve this, he says, it is necessary to tap into a shared “unspoken language” created through references to the project's surreal, Old Hollywood aesthetic – and the result of years of collaboration.
“Tyler knows exactly how to move his body, he has so much control over it. I just need to be ready for whatever he’s going to do in front of the lens,” Perez said.
The cover art for Perfume Genius was created by art directors Cody Critchelo and Andrew J.S. Glory. He sprawls on a patchwork rug in a dark, cozy interior, his stiletto boots pointing toward the bright window. Multi-colored cords snake across the floor, like microphone cords on a stage.
He said the image reflected the push and pull he explored while writing the album: the comfort and avoidance of a sheltered, private life versus the confidence required of his “maximum” public persona: “How do I make each of these things give meaning to my life?”
The goal was not to capture a specific scene or choreography. “It was mostly about energy,” said Critchelo, who photographed the cover.
“People have told both of us that they can’t understand the aesthetic of the album cover,” he added. “It's the best thing to hear.”
A creature-like version of Tisdale that appears on MoisturizerThe cover – squatting, arms outstretched, creepy grin at the camera – is also intended to create friction.
“The album explores themes of love and longing. But there are also a couple of moments on the album that are, you know, just wild,” she said.
World creation, casting and stylization
Key setting The essence — the third album from Djo, the musical moniker of actor Joe Keery — featured a fictional hotel in the Brooklyn-inspired section of Paramount Studios.
Krug, Joe and co-star Jake Hirshland watched intense scenes like the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film. Rear window (also filmed on location at Paramount Studios) for inspiration. They looked at locations in New York and Atlanta, where the artist filmed the film. Stranger Thingsbefore locking down the area.
This was followed by the casting of the characters that would make up the scene.
“Everything we could think of, we kind of threw it into the canvas,” Krug said. A couple kisses in the window. In the foreground, a man fights a parking ticket. Joe is only seen from behind, hanging from a window in a white suit.
Art director William Wesley II oversaw production details, including designing a neon sign bearing the album's title—an homage to iconic hotels like the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
“Everything is intentional,” he said. “It’s really the sum of the parts and the sum of the contributions of many people.”
A pair of white plastic chairs are the only props on the cover. Debi, take more photos.which translates to “I should have taken more photos.”
Captured by Bad Bunny himself, the image also features plantains, a symbol of the island, as well as the Caribbean and Latin America in general, by Puerto Rican photographer Eric Rojas.
There's a nostalgia to the simple combination—a day spent at the beach or a backyard get-together—that also reflects the album's diasporic, historical narrative.
Debi, take more photos. And Chromocopy also nominated for album of the year.
What makes a cover eligible for a Grammy?
Official Grammy rules state that albums do not have to physically exist to qualify for the category, a key point in distinguishing the award from its packaged counterpart.
However, all of this year's nominees are available on vinyl or CD. Krug, who has worked on covers for Lana Del Rey and Tame Impala, said vinyl presentation is often the first issue discussed.
“When you have physical vinyls in your home or apartment, they live with you. They are in your space, whether you're having a good day or a bad day, whether you're getting married or breaking up with someone,” Krug said. “There is a rediscovery of the art form.”
Voters should consider the creativity and design of the cover, as well as illustrations, photographs or graphic elements.
Prizes are awarded to the winning art directors, and certificates are awarded to the winning designers, illustrators or photographers, as applicable.
In a sign of growing pain in the new category, changes were made to this year's list of candidates before the voting window opened, a process not uncommon in other categories with multiple candidates. Joe, Krug, Hirshland and Taylor Vandergrift were added along with Wesley to the lineup The essence; Perez and photographer Sean Llewellyn were sent off for Chromocopyreplaced only by Tyler.
Luz and La Rue joined Tisdale Moisturizerand several others, including the rest of the group, were removed.
“I was very surprised and very excited because I didn’t know it was a category,” Krichelo said of his nomination. “I love the idea of making weird, subversive and irreverent things, and having an audience that's bigger than it should be.”
