Album Art X Music Video
Album Art X Music Video
🔀 Extra Shuffle: a dialogue between visual art and music
📣 In case you’re wondering why are you receiving an issue of Shuffle Sundays on a Thursday, you may have missed last week’s big announcements. In any case, welcome to the very first “Extra Shuffle” edition! Here I’ll be diving a little deeper into specific topics in the shape of lists, essays, explorations, collaborations, and more. The usual format (album + singles + visual inspiration + new releases) will continue to go out on Sundays as usual, so no changes on that. Hope you enjoy year 3 of Shuffle Sundays, as I continue to grow and experiment!
🎨 Album Art X Music Video 🎶
Music has always been present in my life ever since I can remember: from listening to vinyl at home (with music made for kids) as a child to buying my first CDs with my own money to attending hundreds of concerts to playing drums in my late teens, to finally making a career out of photographing musicians performing live. Adding that to my passion for movies and it’s easy to understand why music videos were destined to become another obsession of mine early on.
In this post, I want to explore something that is not always given that much attention: when music videos establish some sort of dialogue with the album art of the record from which that specific song came. Sometimes is very literal, but sometimes it can be a bit more subjective too. Here are some examples:
🎶 The Wilhelm Scream, by James Blake
from his debut album James Blake
When you see James Blake collaborating with huge names these days, like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Travis Scott, and Rosalía, it’s hard to remember that it all started with a very minimalistic and introspective debut album, in a genre that used to be referred to as ‘post-dubstep’. From his debut album, one of my favorites of all time, comes the music video for The Wilhelm Scream, the second track which encapsulates the whole feeling of the album, perfectly captured by its music video and artwork. This was also one of the videos that sparked in me the idea for this series.
🎶 Part of the Band, by The 1975
from their fifth album Being Funny in a Foreign Language
In their fifth (and most recent) studio album, British pop-rock band The 1975 decided to push their boundaries yet again and caught everyone by surprise with its first single Part of the Band, a song that borrowed much more from art/baroque-pop than the band’s previously characteristics sounds. It was a divisive single and a great introduction to their new album, at the same time.
🎶 Brutal, by Olivia Rodrigo
from her debut album Sour
Olivia Rodrigo took the music world completely by surprise a couple of years ago as a new sensation bringing a bit more rock back into the mainstream pop scenario, which was more and more oversaturated by its peers. Rodrigo showed us an interesting range of styles borrowed from different decades. The opening track Brutal brings alternative rock vibes straight from the 90s and serves as a great introduction to her debut album.
🎶 Lollipop, by Mika
from his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion
Mika is one of those artists that you may not instantly recognize by their name, but you’ll certainly remember once you start listening to one of their hit songs. Mika’s debut album Life in Cartoon Motion took the world by surprise 15 years ago with a delicious mix of 70s pop influences, especially Queen and Elton John, while still being able to imprint a lot of his own style and personality without sounding just like a copy. From that same album, you probably know the massive-hit Grace Kelly, but it was Lollipop that got a cartoon-like music video borrowing the visuals from its album cover.
🎶 Grains de Beauté, by Céu
from her sophomore album Vagarosa
Closing this list with a music video that will speak directly to the first entry on this list, through its minimalist and introspective vibe, both on the song and music video. Here we have Brazilian singer-songwriter Céu, an artist that has been able to reinvent herself many times throughout her discography, always maintaining the same highest artistic level she introduced us to at the beginning of her career. From her second (and my favorite) album Vagarosa, comes Grains de Beauté with a beautiful music video taken directly from the album art.
Can you think of other examples like these? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or by replying to this post, as I’m considering a part 2 or maybe even turning this into a series in the future.