Sophie Marina Billington

Analysing Folk-Rock CD covers

Artist-focused CD covers...

Mumford & Sons - Babel

The entire band is featured on

the cover of the CD – front and

centre.

The market scene is busy and blurred whilst the

band are calm and still. This suggests that listening to

this music will allow you to

relax.

The market also

indicates the genre of music (folk).

It could even be a farmer’s market!

The name of the band and the

album are clear.

Frank Turner – Love Ire & SongThe artist’s

name is clear on the cover.

The name of the album is

also very clear on the cover.

The artist is featured on the

cover so that the audience can recognise

him from music videos,

advertisements, etc.

He is holding an acoustic guitar which indicates the

genre of music that the

audience can expect from

him.

This is a simple cover that was

staged and shot in a studio. The artist’s dress,

stance and instrument indicate the

genre of music.

The Pogues – The Very Best Of

Just like Frank Turner, the

artist is holding an acoustic guitar which indicates the

genre of music that the

audience can expect from

him.

The audience can clearly see

the artist’s face. Although the whole band aren’t featured

on the CD cover, the lead

singer is.

The artist is wearing a suit,

just as Mumford & Sons and

Frank Turner did. This dress is indicative of the genre of

folk-rock.

The name of the artist and the name of

the album are clear.

This photograph was staged and shot in a studio to include all of these details.

The photograph is in black and white, indicating the simplicity of listening to

folk-rock.

Neil Finn – One NilA close-up

photograph of the artist is

featured on the CD cover so that

the audience knows what he

looks like or may be able to

recognise him from music

videos, advertisements,

etc.

The name of the artist

and the name of the album are

clear.

In the background of

the photograph, we can see images

of nature (trees, bushes,

plants). This suggests that the artist is at

one with nature which is

indicative of folk-rock music.

The photograph has been edited to look ‘vintage’

– distressed, aged, worn. This

could indicate the longevity of the folk genre of

music.

Newton Faulkner – Write It On Your SkinOnce again, a close-up photo of the artist is

used. This makes him

recognisable from ads,

music videos, billboards, etc.

The name of the artist and the name of the

album are both extremely clear on the CD cover.

The large lettering is

similar to Frank Turner’s album.

Again, we can see nature in the background. This connotates the

simplicity of folk-rock music

and it’s connection to

nature.

Just as The Pogues’ album cover was black and white and

Neil Finn’s album cover looks vintage and aged, this CD cover has

been edited to look vintage.

The CD covers that I have analysed so far share similarities...- They all feature a photograph of the artist/band- They all include indications to the folk-rock genre

of music (e.g. the market on the cover of ‘Babel’ and the acoustic guitars on the covers of The Pogues’ and Frank Turner’s albums)

- They all feature the name of the artist and the name of the song/album very clearly on the cover

In my search for folk-rock CD covers I noticedthis style of CD covers, but also a more

artisticstyle of CD covers. I will now analyse some ofthe more artistic CD covers...

Summary of these CD covers.

Creative/artistic CD covers...

Dry the River – Shallow BedThe cover for

‘Shallow Bed’ is actually a

painting. Sharks have roamed the sea for millions

of years and they represent

something ancient and

knowing. This connotates the folk-rock genre of music that

‘Dry The River’ produce which is a very old genre

of music.

The name of the artist and the name of

the album are clear on the

cover. This is a similarity

between the artist focused CD covers and

these creative/artisti

c CD covers.

Clearly the artist is NOT featured on the cover!

Fleet Foxes – Fleet FoxesThe name of

the artist/album is

featured on the cover, but

the font face is rather small and slightly

overshadowed by everything else going on

in the painting.

The cover artis a detail ofthe 1559 painting ‘Netherlandish Proverbs’ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.On first glance this painting seems very bucolic, but on closer inspection you can see some strange things happening. People are carving a live sheep, a man is defecating coins into a river and there are even people on fire!

The fact that you have to

look closer to inspect the

portrait connotates the folk-rock genre of music. Folk lyrics are very

meaningful and require closer

inspection/analysis.

Once again, the artist is NOT featured on the front cover of the

CD!

Arcade Fire - Funeral

The name of the artist is featured on this cover,

but the name of the album is not.

The cover art for ‘Funeral’

is very interesting. The writing

hand connotates the creative process that

is an inherent part of

producing folk-rock music.

The cover for this album seems to have a

Victorian theme, which

could also indicate the longevity of folk music, which has

been around for a very long time.

Clearly the artist is NOT featured on the cover!

Ben Howard – Every KingdomThe name of

the artist and the name of the album are clear

on the cover. This is a similarity

between the artist focused CD covers &

these creative/artistic

CD covers.Although this cover uses a

photograph, it is still very artistic. The composition is more focused on the sea that

Howard swims in as opposed to

the artist himself.

This cover is a kind-of hybrid between the artist focused covers and the more

creative/artistic covers. The artist is on the cover, but the cover isn’t focused on him.

Once again, we are presented with a huge

force of nature on this cover. Much like the shark on the

cover for ‘Shallow Bed’,

the sea is a force of

nature. This connection to

nature and the earth

connotates the folk genre of

music.

Summary of these CD covers The more creative/artistic covers that I

have analysed also share similarities...- - The artwork always represents something

and usually indicates the folk-rock genre of music

- - The artists are NOT featured on the more creative/artistic CD covers (with the exception of Ben Howard’s album, but he is only a small part of the artwork and you cannot see his face)

- - The covers are usually suggestive of nature or an earlier era than ours, which connotates the folk genre of music

Overall summary

In my analysis of folk-rock CD covers, I have noticed two clear conventions in the genre...

Artist-focused CD covers

Creative/artistic CD covers

• Always features an image of the artist• The name of the artist is clear on the CD cover• The name of the album/song is clear on the CD cover• The cover usually features some suggestion/indication to the folk-rock genre of music.

• Always features an artistic image (painting, artistic photograph, sketch, etc) • Does NOT feature an image of the artist • Includes heavy suggestion to the folk-rock genre of music (e.g. the folksy painting on the Fleet Foxes cover and the shark on the cover for Shallow Bed)