My favourite album covers of 2022

I’m not really one for lists when it comes to songs and albums. Mainly, because I am lazy as hell. But also because I never feel like I have listened to enough albums released in a given year. In 2022, I pretty much listened to the same 3 to 4 albums, and then a bunch of ‘old’ and some legitimately old songs.

This is how I listen to music every year.

I really do not keep up with the newest releases. Most of the music discoveries I make tend to be albums and songs which are years old by the time I come across them. So my 2022 list wouldn’t be much of a list at all.

But I did want to do a ‘MY [BEST / FAVOURITE] [THING] of [YEAR]’, and had a light bulb moment of something I could do. And that’s album covers.

‘So, if you’re doing a ‘Best album covers of 2022 post, surely you coulda done one for albums, because you obviously listened to these’. [Taps the ‘I am lazy as hell’ sign]. Also, just because I liked the covers for all of these albums, doesn’t mean I think the albums themselves are particularly noteworthy or worth featuring on a ‘best’ list.

No shade to the albums in this list. A list which is in no particular order.

SZA - SOS

Photographer: Daniel Sannwald | 📷 danielsannwald

SZA - SOS | © 2022 Top Dawg Entertainment, under exclusive license to RCA Records

As soon as I saw this album cover, I said ‘Yes bitch’. It’s such a striking photo and one which really pops when you see it out and about. I tend not to see music being advertised much outdoors these days, but have been seeing SOS posters and billboards. And every time I see them, they capture my attention, because the album cover photo is just so damn good.

The story behind this cover turning out how it did is interesting, because it is the result of the main idea falling through. Originally the SOS cover shot was supposed to be SZA on a shipping barge, similar to what we see her on in the SOS album trailer. But because SZA’s team weren’t able to secure the barge they wanted, they had to pivot to just a diving board. The diving board photo has been confirmed to be a homage of sorts to the famed 1997 photo of Princess Diana, which SZA said was one of the photo references she put forward amongst the others. So even though that one reference was one of many others, for what was going to be an entirely different shot, it ended up being used for THE shot. And it was a great choice. Sometimes when the A plan doesn’t work, the B plan ends up being the better plan.

I figured that the shot was probably post production and VFX trickery. But SZA really sat her ass on a diving board at sea. The only visual trickery is the extension of the diving board. But that water is real chile. I could never. Not only would I be too scared about falling into the water, but I am clumsy. So I would absolutely slip off that diving board and end up fighting for my life in the water.

Angèle - Nonante-Cinq

Photographer: Nickolas Lorieux | 📷 nickolaslorieux

Angèle - Nonante-Cinq | © 2022 Angèle VL Records

I like an album cover with character, and Nonante-Cinq has it in spades. And special points are awarded for the inclusion of a Game Boy with Super Mario Land. Props to the designer for changing the Game Boy etch on the game cartridge to the album title. An indie bitch ain’t try’na get sued by Nintendo.

Often times when photoshoots featuring one person doppelgänged and Photoshopped together, it doesn’t look right, or you spot something off. But the composition of this image looks great. It took me a second to even realise that Angèle was also the girl with the Game Boy and the two rollercoaster riders in the back.

The Weeknd - Dawn FM

Photographer: Matilda Finn | 📷 matilda_finn
Prosthetics / Special FX makeup: Mike Marino | 📷 prorenfx

The Weeknd - Dawn FM | © 2022 The Weeknd XO, Inc.

Not only is this a very memorable cover, but it says a lot about The Weeknd, who has managed to remain pretty enigmatic due to pulling a Namie Amuro and saying ‘Fuck doing press’. But one thing we do know about Abel is that he is a big fan of Special FX makeup, as evidenced by his Halloween costumes. So it was cool to see this work its way into The Weeknd’s visual storytelling for an album - something he started to do with After Hours, and then pushed even further with Dawn FM.

Dawn FM’s cover is intriguing, because it manages to say a lot, but also say so little. And when I listen to the album, the cover image is always at the forefront of my mind. 

Shooting this cover must have been freaky though. To see a glimpse of what you could possibly end up looking like decades from now would certainly feel weird for me. Although Abel seemed to be living for it, even turning up to a listening party in full old Abel get-up and turning up for almost an hour.

💿 Album review: The Weeknd’s Dawn FM

Key - Gasoline

Photographer: Mok Jungwook
Art Director: Jo Woocheol | 📷 jowoocheol
Creative Director: Joonyoung Park
Illustrator: Lee Kwang-moo

Key - Gasoline | © 2022 SM Entertainment

I can imagine a whole bunch of young K-pop fans seeing this album cover and thinking ‘STRANGER THINGS’, and they wouldn’t be wrong. It all traces back to horror flick movie posters of the 80s regardless.

This isn’t a typical cover for a pop album in any decade or year, much less 2022. Unless you’re Michael Jackson, who this album cover reminds me a lot of. This style of album cover has a very punk rock vibe about it, which I feel is very in keeping with Key’s character and his stage persona. Even as part of SHINee, Key always came off as the cool member, who could always get away with every look, no matter the concept, and could easy switch between music styles. This album cover is very on brand for Key.

It’s unfortunate the music on the album is not reflective of its cover at all. Because this album cover is so strong in its point of view and clear in its references, that it evokes a strong expectation of the sound the album will have. Then you hear the album and it’s like ‘Oh.’

Alfie Templeman - Mellow Moon

Alfie Templeman - Mellow Moon | © 2022 Chess Club Records

I have not tweeted not posted on Alife Templeman ONCE. But his song “Candyfloss” from this album has been a song I‘d played constantly in 2022. Followed closely by “Leaving Today”. And what drew me to the album which features these songs, was seeing its album cover.

Some undoubtedly will compare it to the album cover for Duolingo’s Future Nostalgia, because it features the colour pink, a moon, and references a very specific era of the past - with Future Nostalgia having touched on the 50s, whilst Mellow Moon pulls from the 70s. But what sets Mellow Moon apart is that it feels distinctly British as a result of not just Alfie’s attire, but things that most wouldn’t pay attention to, like the chimney top and the antenna. The antenna design of which I also randomly learned was created by a Japanese inventor. Something so benign which visually wouldn’t change this album cover, actually give is so much character, and help ground what is on the whole a pretty surreal scene.

Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights

Photographer: Julian Klincewicz | 📷 julianklincewicz
Art Direction & Design: Viktor H | 📷 viktorhstudios

Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights | © 2022 L-M Records, under license to RCA Records

I was unsure about this one making my list. And I’ll tell you why it almost didn’t. 

Looking at this cover you would think that the physical release would have the Devil Steve image as the slip cover, which reveals a full image of Good Steve underneath. But this isn’t the case. It’s just intentional design for the images of sleeve to look like they are physically two separate images and a cut-out.

But, as disappointed as I was that we got no slip cover action with this album cover, I like the execution of it. The album is called Gemini Rights. We get a Devil Steve and a Good Steve. There’s a Gemini logo. Ground breaking. But Gemini Rights takes this and does something cool and creative with it. And the image composition being that Devil Steve is the face we see and not Good Steve, who is wearing shades; it’s just so uniquely cool.

But what I also like about this cover, is that it manages to sell you on what kind of artist Steve Lacy is and what his sound will be. When I first saw this cover, I immediately though Prince, soul and rock. A sound like like Miguel or Janelle Monáe. And that’s exactly what this album ended up sounding like.

And true to the album title and cover, the devil jumped out of Steve Lacy when he threw the shit out of somebody’s phone at a concert and then left the stage.

It’s shame that the physical releases didn’t play with the concept in the obvious way that it should have. But maybe not doing it was the point, which would also tie into the approach of the concept. An obvious thing not done in an obvious way.

Side note: This cover reminds me of FKA Twigs’ LP1. It’s the colours.

Aurora - Gods We Can Touch

Photographer: Xin Li | 📷 _xinli_
Art Directors: Aurora & Leif Podhajsky |📷 leifpodhajsky

Aurora - Gods We Can Touch | © 2022 Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC

Much like Bjork, Aurora isn’t afraid to be a little weird and unconventional when it comes to how she presents herself musically, but also visually. All of her album covers have been a little kooky in some form or other, but Gods We Can Touch feels like the first which feels it is presenting Aurora, and not Aurora dressed as something or someone else. 

It’s an interestingly edited image, because only one side of Aurora’s face is actually visible. It’s just flipped. But you can’t tell which is left and which is right.

And the cover for this album also completely coincidentally and inadvertently plays into a couple of things which have been popular subject matters for films and TV shows this year; fractured minds and mental states, alternate versions of ourselves, and the multiverse.

Kwon Eun-bi - Color

Kwon Eun-bi - Color | © 2022 Wollim Entertainment

Color is not an album. But, fuck it. I’m including it in this list anyway. Not much to say here other than this shot is gorgeous.

Photography can be challenging as is, without water in the mix; let alone shooting under that bitch. Firstly, you need lighting rigs and photography equipment which can be used underwater. Lighting underwater is a challenge. And hair and make-up can’t just be done the normal way. You’ve gotta make sure the make-up can not only withstand one dunk in the water, but hold up after repeated dunks. And hair has to be pinned to fuck so that a style holds underwater, unless you want it flowing everywhere. Then there’s styling. An outfit has to not only look good underwater, but be structured and layered in a way where there are no wardrobe malfunctions or wet T-shirt scenarios.

So I am always in awe when I see an underwater shot which looks so elegant, because I know the work that had to have gone into it, and the concentration and will it takes for the person being shot to hold their poses in such uncomfortable scenarios.

The cover for Colors is stunning. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out who the creative talents behind it were. But I did come across the Instagram account of Soodam Studio; a South Korean photography / creative studio which specialises in underwater shoots, who have posted several shots over the years which look very similar to the Color shoot. So either Soodam are the team responsible for Kwon Eun-bi’s underwater shoot, or somebody at Woollim Entertainment saw their work and said ‘We gon’ do that, but without them’.

Beyoncé - Renaissance

Photographer: Carlijn Jacobs | 📷 carlijnjacobs
Creative Direction: Andrew Makadsi | 📷 amakadsi

Beyoncé - Renaissance | © 2022 Parkwood Entertainment LLC, under exclusive license to Columbia Records

All of the other album covers in this list were immediate choices. I didn’t have to think twice about if I would include them or not. But Renaissance? I had to mull it over.

I do not like Beyoncé’s outfit, make up or hair on this cover. But the image is striking, because of each of these things. And of course, the horse. This image has immediate impact when you see it, which is exactly what you want an album cover for your big comeback album to do. Because not only was Renaissance a long awaited studio album from Beyoncé, but it marked her first to feature her face on the cover since her 2011 album 4. Her face hadn’t been on a studio album in 10 YEARS. So Beyoncé releasing a new album with not just her face on it, but so much of her body felt like a statement and an arrival. And once you heard the album, the cover just made sense. Many of us online also theorised what the album would sound like based on this cover, in conjunction with “Break My Soul”, and many were not far off.

But this album cover is also just brilliant branding for the music, because this image is just seared into your brain the entire time you’re listening to a song from Renaissance - which is just as well, given that we still have not a crumb of a music video. You can’t hear a song from this album and not have flashes of this album cover or the disco horse. The album cover is not just a great visual motif for Renaissance, but it also the perfect visual representation for some of the songs. This album cover is “Alien Superstar”, “Cuff It”, “Virgo’s Groove” and “Summer Renaissance”.

I actually have the limited edition vinyl album art as the album art for my iPod, which I prefer as a shot. But it’s not as strong as an album cover. Beyoncé is a little lost in it. The horse doesn’t pop as much. And it feels less impactful.

Renaissance is probably one of Beyoncé’s most notable and standout album covers since Dangerously in Love, which Renaissance is reminiscent of because of the revealing, silver jewel encrusted outfit. And I think it will go on to be one of her most memorable and recognisable.

Perfume - Plasma

Photographers: Kazunali Tajima | 📷 tajjiemax & Tsukuru Asada | 📷 tsukuru_asada_photography
Art Direction: Yusuke Tanaka | 📷 tnkusk & Tatsuo Murai

Perfume - Plasma | © 2022 Universal Music, LLC

The regular edition cover for Plasma is one of Perfume’s best album covers.

There. I said it.

We all know the Game album cover is that bitch, and that Perfume served on that album cover in a way they have not done since. But, Plasma though. Just look at it. It’s gorgeous. But in a weird, but also a pretty literal way, the Plasma album cover feels like the place where the girls on the Game cover wanted to get to. Plasma Perfume is the Final Fantasy summon that Game Perfume have to fight. Plasma Perfume is Game Perfume with all of the chaos emeralds.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

Perfume’s album covers are always memorable for some reason or another. Yes. Even Cosmic Explorer. Believe it or not, I actually liked that cover. The problem with it was that whilst it was very characteristic of Perfume visually, it uncharacteristically had NOTHING to do with the album title or any of Perfume’s music videos. And to add insult to injury, the shoes didn’t match the dresses. It was a JPN style album cover, when it shouldn’t have been. And when you look at all of Perfume’s album covers side by side, JPN and Cosmic Explorer are the odd ones out.

Plasma’s album cover not only captures the feel of the album title, but the dominant sound and vibe of the album too. It has a very late 70s / early 80s vibe to it. A representation of how ‘the future’ was seen back then. This mix of analog and digital.

I really hope Perfume release Plasma on vinyl and use the regular edition cover. It feels like it was intended for vinyl.

📺 The moving album cover: The music video for “Spinning World”
🎤 “Spinning World” performances: NTV Best Artist | Buzz Rhythm 02 & Ongaku no Hi | NHK Songs
💿 Album review: Perfume’s Plasma

Stromae - Multitude

Photographer: Michaël Ferire | 📷 michaelferire

Stromae - Multitude | © 2022 Mosaert Label

This wasn’t intentionally the last item on the list. Neither was it intentional to be listed beside Perfume, another act with meticulous creative direction. But both things feel very fitting.

Multitude doesn’t just feel ‘very Stromae’ in general, but like a good representation of the person he was at the time the album had released. He’s still creative. He’s still about his fashion. He’s still about presenting something from different points of view. But whilst Stromae couldn’t be any more sure of who he is as an artist, there is a sense of melancholy and uncertainty to this album cover; which doesn’t just speak to what’s possibly on Stromae’s mind and heart, but where the world was when this album came out, and where it had to have been when Stromae was working on it. It’s entirely plausible that the state of the world and is what drove the creation of this album and the need to release it.

2020 was a year which turned many things upside down. The pandemic flipped the table of out lives with no regard. But this was the only thing we all had to contend with. With the table flipped, we were forced to look at all the shit that was kicked underneath it, and we could no longer ignore it. And it turns out Stromae couldn’t either; because there are songs and music videos from Multitude which address isolation, depression, the imperfect pursuit of being be a good husband and a good father, and societal injustices.

But despite the heaviness of much of the music on Multitude, there is still a sense of hope, and to me, this peeks through in the album cover. Or maybe that’s just me projecting. But it’s part of what makes this album cover so cool. It feels like a look at one moment within the context of a story that we don’t know the full details of. And with Stromae being the visual storyteller that he is, and always delivering synergy and consistency; fragments of this story are evident in his music videos and live performances, which makes Multitude feel like its own world.

BUT. As much as I adore this album cover shot, I do prefer the alternate one, which features on the back of the physical release.

🎤 Performances: Stromae at Coachella 2022 | “Santé” for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

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The second I press publish I’m probably gonna remember an album cover that slipped my mind or some shit. But, OH WELL.

Which are some albums covers from 2022 that really stuck out to you?