Memorable Album Covers of 2021

1. Memorable Album Covers of 2021 David J. Deal http://superhypeblog.com December 2021
2. Navy Blue, Song of Sage: Post Panic!
3. Adele, 30
4. Lily Konigsberg, Lily We Need to Talk Now
5. Mykki Blanco, Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep
6. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever
7. serpentwithfeet, Deacon
8. St. Vincent, Daddy’s Home
9. Genesis Owusu, Smiling with No Teeth
10. Cautious Clay, Deadpan Love
11. Halsey, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
12. Baby Queen, The Yearbook
13. Popsmoke, Faith
14. Connan Mockasin, Jazzbusters Two
15. Deap Vally, Marriage
16. CHAI, Wink
17. Lil Nas X, Montero
18. Billie Martin, Flora Fauna
19. Robert Finley, Sharecropper’s Son
20. Shannon Lay, Geist
21. Tems, If Orange Was a Place
22. Joy Orbison, Still Slipping, Vol. 1
23. Cedric Burnside, I Be Trying
24. King Woman, Celestial Blues
25. Lost Girls, Menneskekollektivet
26. Snail Mail, Valentine
27. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour
28. Lorde, Solar Power
29. Little Simz, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
30. James Blake, Friends That Break Your Heart
31. The Anchoress, The Art of Losing
32. Aimee Mann, Queens of the Summer Hotel
33. H.E.R., Back of My Mind
34. Wolf Alice, Blue Weekend
35. Lingua Ignota, Sinner Get Ready
36. Spirit of the Beehive, ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH
37. Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee
38. The Weather Station, Ignorance
39. PinkPantheress, to hell with it
40. Art D’Ecco, In Standard Definition
41. Ashley Monroe, Rosegold
42. Katy Kirby, Cool Dry Place
43. Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version)
44. Thank You David Deal davidjdeal@gmail.com

Editor's Notes

Record albums refuse to die even though sales are no longer what they used to be. Musicians continue to rely on long-form collections of songs to tell personal stories, and the album cover art remains a crucial aspect of the storytelling. In 2018, as I’ve done for many years, I explored music released during the year to identify the most memorable album cover art. Memorable album covers in 2018 did what effective album cover art has always done:

Capture your attention.

Express the essence of the artist.

Say something about the musical content of the album itself.

This year, I was struck by the number of album covers that expressed what it means for an artist to be the Other, especially to be LGBTQ. The year witnessed a bumper crop of works created by LGBTQ musicians, perhaps most notably by Janelle Monáe, whose Grammy-nominated Dirty Computer created a public forum for Monáe to announce her pansexuality. The album cover art of LGBTQ artists was as intensely personal as their music. This SlideShare contains some notable examples.
As I have done for the past few years, I’ve created my entirely subjective round-up of the most memorable album covers of 2021. These are neither the worst nor the best. The simply made a powerful impression and stuck with me like a musical earworm. The memorable covers of 2021 reflected a pervasive sober realism. The covers reflected many artists who emerged from the oppressive isolation and tumult of 2020 by facing the world head-on, such as Cautious Clay’s portrait on the cover of Deadpan Love or Lily Konigsberg’s Lily We Need to Talk Now. Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, focusing on Eilish’s tear-stained face, expressed Gen Z angst perfectly. Happier Than Ever also inspired a cottage industry of fan art.

But there was plenty of room for whimsy and humor, such as Baby Queen’s The Yearbook and Lil Nas X’s Montero.

Lorde’s Solar Power expressed a carefree spirit that spoke to the album’s theme. St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home was a provocative retro throwback. But on the whole, the albums that stayed with me felt simple, direct, and sometimes humble, like Joy Orbison’s Still Slipping Volume 1, which looked like a scene from a Charles Bukowski short story.

They all spoke to me. I hope they speak to you, too.
The vinyl resurgence continued at a furious pace in 2021. By midyear, vinyl sales were up 94 percent from the year before. The week ending December 2 (which included Black Friday) marked second-largest week of vinyl sales since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991. The popularity of vinyl also underlined the importance album cover art, with online sites such as Our Culture and Exclaim devoting articles to the best and worst album covers of the year.

Album sleeve design plays an essential role in expressing a musician’s vision and sparking curiosity through visual storytelling. In the digital age, album cover art is even more valuable. The cover art is like a totem that appears in both the physical world (the album itself, merchandise, clothing, billboards, etc.) and digital (an artist’s website, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitter, etc.) Album cover art can also inspire a musician’s followers to create their own fan art based on the original sleeve. The cover becomes a digital totem.
What are your favorite album covers of the year, and why? Drop me a line at davidjdeal@gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you.

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Editor's Notes