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[klingi]

it's ironic because of how much of a focal point the money going into this album has been, i think. it was made clear to me that amanda wanted the resources of a label-backed artist, and as we've been told, she was successful in procuring them. but then the songs released have a decidedly lo-fi sound and the album art appears "poorly photoshopped."

I agree with the criticism on the album cover, but where's the lo-fi sound of the songs? I mean there are some filters on her voice.. but the rest sounds fine to me.

oh, but if they'd made it look retro, it would have been amazing. But it doesn't look like a retro collage, it simply looks like a bad photoshop cut-out. It doesn't make me thing of 80s popstars, but of 2000s fangirls behind their computers making fanart but lacking actual photoshop skills.

Exactly!!!

If the awkward hair-bordering/missing ear is supposed to be deliberate, I'd like to hear something about it from Amanda or the artist in order to try to understand it better.

Good idea, I hope Amanda will say something about it sooner or later!

[t3hFM]

it's ironic because of how much of a focal point the money going into this album has been, i think. it was made clear to me that amanda wanted the resources of a label-backed artist, and as we've been told, she was successful in procuring them. but then the songs released have a decidedly lo-fi sound and the album art appears "poorly photoshopped."

I agree with the criticism on the album cover, but where's the lo-fi sound of the songs? I mean there are some filters on her voice.. but the rest sounds fine to me.

Not to mention that the art and photographs are 90% gorgeous.

(And I think the filters also have a lot to do with how the record sounds, and I think they work very well, but that's just me. Though they are probably not the best for every song—the Bed Song should be clean, for instance.)

oh, but if they'd made it look retro, it would have been amazing. But it doesn't look like a retro collage, it simply looks like a bad photoshop cut-out. It doesn't make me thing of 80s popstars, but of 2000s fangirls behind their computers making fanart but lacking actual photoshop skills.

Exactly!!!

To me it does seem like the perfect combination between the quality that modern pictures can have and retro aesthetics. And I just can't imagine any fangirl with bad Photoshop skills cutting the picture out like that. I actually think it's been done in a careful, specific way, or that's the impression it causes on me.

I guess what I'm trying to point out is that the “amateurishness” (things like the fact that there is background intertwined with the hair) is a conscious artistic decision. You may question the validity of that decision, of course. It might not satisfy you as it satisfies me. But it is conscious.

Also, the ear isn't there because it isn't visible to begin with, except for the top bit. It makes perfect sense that we see as much of the ear as we do.
Though I don't have to point this out because in the original B/W picture it looks just the same and you can see why.

[ahauntingnearu]

well, i'm gonna stay out of this cover talk 

am i the only person happy that it's just "bed song" now?

[Savannah]

it's ironic because of how much of a focal point the money going into this album has been, i think. it was made clear to me that amanda wanted the resources of a label-backed artist, and as we've been told, she was successful in procuring them. but then the songs released have a decidedly lo-fi sound and the album art appears "poorly photoshopped."

I agree with the criticism on the album cover, but where's the lo-fi sound of the songs? I mean there are some filters on her voice.. but the rest sounds fine to me.

Not to mention that the art and photographs are 90% gorgeous.

(And I think the filters also have a lot to do with how the record sounds, and I think they work very well, but that's just me. Though they are probably not the best for every song—the Bed Song should be clean, for instance.)

oh, but if they'd made it look retro, it would have been amazing. But it doesn't look like a retro collage, it simply looks like a bad photoshop cut-out. It doesn't make me thing of 80s popstars, but of 2000s fangirls behind their computers making fanart but lacking actual photoshop skills.

Exactly!!!

To me it does seem like the perfect combination between the quality that modern pictures can have and retro aesthetics. And I just can't imagine any fangirl with bad Photoshop skills cutting the picture out like that. I actually think it's been done in a careful, specific way, or that's the impression it causes on me.

I design business cards, brochures, catalogues and such shit on Adobe Photoshop Cs3, and yeah trust me, professionel people don't tend to cut the ears or hair, carelessly. Tmho, the graphic designer intentionally gave it an amateur look.

[Astica]

I feel like it's a bit too subtle to be deliberate. I mean, it's not subtle at all, but it reminds me of another image I once saw which was of these two girls in different countries, who had clearly overlaid the image of one over the image of the other in photoshop, then select+deleted some of the background to make the pair look like they were together, only with completely random messed up bits of each others background all over the image and parts of their hair and bodies missing etc. That was deliberately badly done as a joke, but here it sort of looks like someone meant to go back and finish softening and fading away the white bits about the hairline but just hasn't done it yet. But then the title and stuff isn't there yet, so maybe it just isn't finished.

[t3hFM]

^ Amanda said there would be no title or words at all. This is the finished cover.

[Rob]

If the awkward hair-bordering/missing ear is supposed to be deliberate, I'd like to hear something about it from Amanda or the artist in order to try to understand it better.

i found the original album cover in black and white. just thought id share it:

As you can see, the ear doesn't exist in the original.

[Astica]

Oh, how weird. She doesn't appear to be at much of an angle, and her hair doesn't look long enough to obscure it. Oh well.

In related news, the poppy songs on the album are way poppier than I would normally like, but they're actually quite fun so far.

[t3hFM]

I find myself being more fond of the unreleased songs than the released ones. I still think Do It With a Rockstar is kind of a mess, but I'm loving what I've heard of The Killing Type, Grown Man Cry and Lost.

BTW, isn't the amazing Berlin quite Dresden Dolls-like? I love it (and not just because of that).

[Cirque]

BTW, isn't the amazing Berlin quite Dresden Dolls-like? I love it (and not just because of that).

It is pretty old, from around the time I believe? (correct me if I'm wrong of course)

[BATTEREDxBRIDExLUVR!]

i guess it is mainly just the vocals with the lo-fi filters, and while i agree it can/should/does work for the high-energy "80s songs" or whatever, there is definitely something on the vocals in trout heart replica as well, and i really don't think it was necessary. the recording of that song feels... weird. the strings are overpowering and the piano feels very weightless; each keystroke sounds "hard" to me, and kind of just makes it sound like a shitty keyboard that... happens to sound really good. this might just be a matter of the song being interpreted very differently, which then i guess is my own problem. but again, i was completely under the impression that the "sound" of the album was going to be anything BUT raw and grungey because it seemed to REQUIRE all of the resources of a label.

i also agree that it'd be great to hear from one of the people involved in its making what the "point" or concept of the album art is. i've seen similar (if it is supposed to be ironic) things from some other recent artists, across a variety of genres and in a couple of different directions. i think the idea is the same, though:

[dunnogr]

but again, i was completely under the impression that the "sound" of the album was going to be anything BUT raw and grungey because it seemed to REQUIRE all of the resources of a label.

amanda recorded it pre-kickstarter-success though, so it's doubtful whether she'd had the resources of a label back then

[citizenoftheplanet]

Someone else said it - the "bad" photoshopping seems too subtle to be deliberate. The only part I really noticed was the hair on the right hand side, there are some little flecks of white surrounding the strands of hair. I didn't notice it when she tweeted the picture, only when someone posted the HQ version here. And I can't help but feel that, if it was a deliberate "artistic" choice, it would be visible at any side (like the Regina cover Jesse posted up there, there are OBVIOUS white lines around Regina, looking like it's been cut out, as opposed to almost around the edges with some random white bits where it's just been missed out)

In terms of tracklist, I was a little surprised that it ends with Olly Olly Oxen Free. This is the first time she's ended with a song that isn't a ballad, and not even remotely close to a ballad (unless the album version is veeeery different from what she's played live)

[Musings]

Also, the idea of comments being deleted really concerns me. At least the box seems unaffected so far!

Deletion of negative comments don't strike me as what Sean and Hayley and Amanda and the rest of Amanda's team are about at all.

Also,this being the age of the Internet and deleted Twitter controversies, everyone knows that you can just screencap that shit or find cached versions.

Fo what it's worth, I'm disappointed that the album cover does not include the theatrics of the Grand Theft Orchestra but am otherwise pleased with the so-sweet-I'm going to get a cavity aesthetic. 

[Hayley Fiasco!]

Also, the idea of comments being deleted really concerns me. At least the box seems unaffected so far!

Deletion of negative comments don't strike me as what Sean and Hayley and Amanda and the rest of Amanda's team are about at all.

Also,this being the age of the Internet and deleted Twitter controversies, everyone knows that you can just screencap that shit or find cached versions.

Fo what it's worth, I'm disappointed that the album cover does not include the theatrics of the Grand Theft Orchestra but am otherwise pleased with the so-sweet-I'm going to get a cavity aesthetic.  

Y'all are free to post whatever opinions you want here - as favorable, or unfavorable as they may be (ie: recall that there was a thread here called "I hate amanda"). So I'm not sure what comment deletion you're referring to. can you fill me in?


If I remember correctly, the photo was taken by Desi at the Map of Tasmania video shoot in Dec 2010, as I saw him shooting it. To be honest, the most disappointing thing of all in that photo to me, personally, (alert, alert, personal Hayley opinion here) is the photoshopped eyes. Amanda has gorgeous, greenish, color changing, hazelish colored eyes, not stock blue.