Music
Hard-Fi, whose last sleeve won a top award, are making a statement about the death of album cover artwork with their latest release.
The cover of Once upon a Time in the West, due out in September, will contain only the title and the declaration "No Cover Art".
Frontman Richard Archer explained this was in response to the decreasing importance of the physical release because of downloads.
"The significance of album covers is becoming little more than a centimetre square on an iPod screen," he told The Times. "The sleeve used to add another dimension to an album, but that seems to be disappearing, which is really sad."
He said it was the only way to go after winning a national plaudit for Stars of CCTV's simple camera motif.
"An album is like a book, and the book cover is an important detail. We had the Sleeve of the Year in 2005 and we looked at every way of trying to top it. But perhaps the best way is to kill off the sleeve altogether."
The cover of Once upon a Time in the West, due out in September, will contain only the title and the declaration "No Cover Art".
Frontman Richard Archer explained this was in response to the decreasing importance of the physical release because of downloads.
"The significance of album covers is becoming little more than a centimetre square on an iPod screen," he told The Times. "The sleeve used to add another dimension to an album, but that seems to be disappearing, which is really sad."
He said it was the only way to go after winning a national plaudit for Stars of CCTV's simple camera motif.
"An album is like a book, and the book cover is an important detail. We had the Sleeve of the Year in 2005 and we looked at every way of trying to top it. But perhaps the best way is to kill off the sleeve altogether."
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