I received an email today from a very nice man who was at no pains to tell me how good the album was - which, as you can imagine, was a real joy to hear. But I was rather bemused to read, "I am not sure about the cover."
This got me to thinking about how - sometimes - a book (or CD in this case) will always be judged by it's cover. Especially in the fast-paced, scroll, scroll, swipe right, x-out, delete, start over world we now find ourselves in.
Are we guilty of no longer taking the time to pause and ask ourselves the question, "What is the artist trying to say here?" Are you rushing to the next frame because somewhere inside of you a connection was made that might eat up too much of your time should you choose to dwell upon it and cultivate creative thought. I only ask, because sometimes I am guilty of the same. So I looked at the cover of the album and I thought about all of the amazing work that went in to such a simple idea and I remembered what it was I was trying to say.
The cover of the album is very important to me on a number of different levels. First and foremost, it is a representation of the dichotomy I feel I face as an artist who must, out of necessity, be business minded when truly, my heart is in the joy of creating and playing music. It also encompasses the dichotomy of self, that is to say, 'The Watcher' and 'The Thinker'. The egoic mind and the observer. References gleaned from Eckhart Tolle's 'The Power of Now'. The two are fused together in a playing card because this is the gamble I have made with life. I choose music. I choose art. That is my play and I am not bluffing.
The first draft of the picture was painted on canvas by Davy Hughes. I explained all of my thoughts to Davy and he came back to me with an amazing piece of art which I will post here soon. Sadly, Davy passed away this year. I stuck with the idea as a tribute to him. The final draft - the one that appears on the album cover - was a sketch from the amazing hand of Ursula McAdam. A true artist.
There are other tributes of this kind on the album, though not all are mentioned. Friends who have passed or moved on. People that I love or have loved who I hope I will meet again when this game of life - Lila - is complete. This is why I have included an extensive booklet of liner notes with the album. To give an added dimension to the music.
Those with a particularly keen eye will notice that the cover itself bears a striking resemblance (front and back) to my favourite Leonard Cohen album. It has long been a source of great inspiration for me, so it's influence can be felt here. The same can be said for some other great albums by Nick Drake and Frank Harte and there are 'Easter Eggs' - I believe this is what they are called - throughout the album and liner notes which reflect this.
All this. And its just a cover!