Wombo Share Their Favourite Record Sleeves.
Kentucky’s Wombo have just wrapped up their debut UK/EU tour, something they spoke of with excitement back when we interviewed the band in Issue Forty-Two of So Young. At that moment they’d recently released ‘Fairy Rust’ via Fire Talk Records and the scene was set for them to take their music to the big cities. Fast forward to now and Wombo have kept the momentum motoring forwards with ‘Slab’, a new EP which cements their presence as one of the most exciting and important alternative acts right now.
This latest release provided the perfect moment to dig into some of the creative inspiration for ‘Slab’s accompanying artwork, and the band in general. Our Sleeves feature asks bands to tell us the story behind their latest artwork and pick five of their favourite ever record covers.
This is Sleeves with Louisville’s Wombo.
Hey Wombo, thanks for getting involved. Could you tell us about the artwork for your new EP ‘Slab’?
‘Slab’s artwork is a painting I did (acrylic on wood) inside a puffy frame I made out of pillow stuffing, and fabric I found at an antique mall in Louisville called Tickled Pink. I took photos of things around my house that were special to me, like the figurine of the girl in the pink dress holding the clown doll which was something I inherited from my grandmother, the matryoshka doll which was given to me as a kid, and some other things. I liked the idea of having the cover be something organically made, not using much of anything digital. It felt true to myself as well as the overall feeling we went for on the EP, being a bit more stripped down. I had the songs in mind as I painted the cover, so they are very much married together. I liked the idea of seeing the real texture of the paint on the wood and the fabric. Originally I wanted it to be just the painting and frame as the cover, no wall or title or anything. But I realised that to size it correctly in the format of an album, we would have had to cut out a chunk of the painting. So we just had our friend take a photo of it hanging up on a wall, and I made a little text that said the title to put underneath. – Sydney
Thank you for sharing. Now could you tell us about five record sleeves that have influenced Wombo in life, emotionally, or in creative direction?
Crack Cloud – Crack Cloud
I like this one a lot. It is a collage of several photos and stills from their music videos. I think the dark colors and rectangular images work really well with the angular sounds of the record and whenever I see it I instantly associate it with the music. – Cameron
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
I’ve always loved this one. Very surreal and psychedelic. I like to think there was an intention to connect the deep green gradient on the cover with the lyrics in Place to Be “I was green, greener than the hill.” with the dark foreground and the water with the next line “Now I’m darker than the deepest sea”. The rich colors make it feel happy but the images give it a much darker bleak vibe. It’s the perfect visual accompaniment to a melancholy album. – Joel
Corridor – Supermercado
The artwork drew me to the band before I listened to them. It’s simple, elegant, and reminds me of being a kid. The colors remind me of Mardi Gras and Louisiana where my family is from. It’s giving good vibes and the music is great too. – Joel
Yanka – Anhedonia
I found this on spotify while I was in the process of painting the Slab cover. It looks like an actual painting which I liked. Kind of has a chaotic and violent and sad feeling to it. And then her melodies are just as heavy and haunting. I read about her after listening to it a few times and was sad to learn she passed away very young. – Sydney
Sibylle Baier – Colour Green
This might be one of my most listened to albums. I love that it’s just a photo of her with her eyes closed and her arms crossed. It feels isolated and contentedly lonely and beautiful to look at. – Sydney
Thank you.
We spoke with Wombo in Issue Forty-Two of So Young. Check out the preview below and pick up a copy here.
The new issue of So Young is out now. Grab a copy in print here or read the digital edition below.