Noteworthy album covers of 2024

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4076732943_16.jpg
Future Islands - People Who Aren't There Anymore

https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/fe85e30921deeafc0e1471ed76669c4f/11827771/willi-carlisle-critterland-Cover-Art.jpg

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81oYne0iUpL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

joe wong - mere survival

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0712164230_65
SLIFT - Ilion

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2240146325_10.jpg
Moor Mother - The Great Bailout

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a4097100508_16.jpg

Plantoid - Terrapath

My album cover artist friend suggested that's done on Midjourney, the jury's out though

Oh, man, well if it turns out to be an AI thing I apologize for posting it. I just thought it was a cool, visually striking cover!

Their Bandcamp page says the cover was made on Midjourney

Take a look at the cover art for Plantoid’s debut album, the jazzy, prog-rock opus Terrapath. In a desolate, misty landscape, a massive half-vegetable, half-machine structure resembling a spaceship looms above figures shrouded in shadow. It’s weird and eerie, but it also ignites a feeling of wonder and nostalgia, like cracking open your favourite sci-fi novel as a kid. It harkens back to ‘70s rock artwork, where ornate fantasy scenes gaze back at you from dusty vinyl gatefolds—and yet it was created with the decidedly modern AI software Midjourney. In short, it’s the perfect visual for a band that is able to marry both the old and the new in a fresh and exciting way.

Totally did not catch that on their bandcamp page! Explains why my googling for an artist name was leading me nowhere.

Ugh, feel gross for boosting an AI cover here.

So tiresome that everything has to be double checked nowadays, wait until the AI music creation programs get better!

Let's just savor this brief window where anyone still cares about the distinction.

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/65450303573e66123dcf4685/1:1/w_1920,c_limit/Sheryl-Crow-Evolution.jpg

i don't know if the new peggy gou is supposed to be lol but fuck it i'm lolling anyway:

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/660dadb1f02d2365e89c4d55/master/w_960,c_limit/Peggy-Gou-I-Hear-You.jpg

https://shaneparish.bandcamp.com/album/repertoire

Would wear an accessory that creates an earring out of your own ears. You don't even need to get pierced.

https://www.musikexpress.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/marla-hansen-salt.jpg

Marla Hansen - SALT

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0472336739_10.jpg

Clarissa Connelly - World of Work

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91M1gdSuOxL._UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg

new pearl jam album cover is almost as bad as the terrible sheryl crow cover i posted upthread

haha was wondering abt that crow cover, incredibly lazy for a kind of big release

https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/hana-vu-romanticism/

https://propermusic.com/products/lindathompson-proxymusic

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2617252355_16.jpg

With my thanks to Tim F for the general recommendation

It looks a bit like the Iberic peninsula though lol

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/668ef790b6c41f622a91aead/1:1/w_450%2Cc_limit/Dua-Saleh-I-Should-Call-Them.jpg

^ Dua Saleh - I Should Call Them

Sofi Tukker - BREAD

https://i.imgur.com/U00fZrp.jpeg

red sun - unnecessary riffness

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0764508338_10.jpg

Looks like a Guided By Voices cover.

Saw this while strolling through albumoftheyear.org, looking at lists.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1098307584_10.jpg

ourculture The 50 Best Album Covers of 2024
https://ourculturemag.com/2024/12/24/the-50-best-album-covers-of-2024/
by
Konstantinos Pappis

with design reviews

2024 was a year where the most memorable and controversial album cover – one that’s probably already sprung to mind, but in any case, BRAT – was also purposefully ugly. (Spoiler alert: it’s on here.) But there was no shortage of striking cover artworks this year, ranging from intricately beautiful to delicate to surreal, simple or grueling to make. In highlighting the 50 album covers that stood out to us the most this year, we’ve once again reached out to many of the artists featured for insights into their creative process. This is an unranked list following a kind of aesthetic or conceptual logic, but we’ve placed the 10 artworks that left the strongest impression at the top.

There's like five records on that list where the cover art never stood out to me because I only saw the design half the size of those images, in Spotify thumbnails. Hadn't seen the compact disc in Magdelena Bay, or the crepe detail in Big|Brave, for instance. I'm tired of the body-collapsed-in-the-elements motif, tho.

The Best Art Vinyl Awards - 2024

alerted via:

Here Are The 50 Best Album Covers of 2024
https://happymag.tv/best-album-covers-2024/

provides visuals for all selected albums

the 20th Best Art Vinyl Awards

Aussie band Hiatus Kaiyote’s Love Heart Cheat Code takes home Best Album Cover for 2024

Topping the 2024 list is Hiatus Kaiyote’s Love Heart Cheat Code, a jaw-dropping design by Toronto’s Rajni Perera. It’s vibrant, symbolic, and packed with themes like migration and sacred femininity—a perfect match for the band’s boundary-pushing jazz-funk vibe.

The winning album cover/artwork, created by Toronto-based artist Rajni Perera, is a visual masterpiece that explores themes of migration, hybridity, and sacred female energy.

For Perera, the opportunity to work on Love Heart Cheat Code was personal and powerful. “Even by painting it, I have been blessed,” she shared. “This work is about acknowledging the sacred female energy that drives the universe and restores balance.”

For Hiatus Kaiyote’s frontwoman Nai Palm, the artwork holds a deep connection. She recalled discovering Rajni’s work years ago, leading to a tattoo on her mastectomy scar. “It was important to challenge beauty standards with something powerful yet effeminate,” she said. The album cover became the final piece of the tattoo, marking a personal and artistic chapter in Palm’s life.

The Best Art Vinyl Awards, now in its 20th year, continues to highlight the importance of vinyl cover art in music culture. All nominated artworks are currently on display at The Hari in London until February 1, 2025, forming part of a powerful installation that showcases the diversity and beauty of album art.

Best Art Vinyl
https://artvinyl.com/lp-records-displayed-as-artwork-prize/

The Best Art Vinyl Award is the annual search for the most creative and well-designed record cover of the year. These pages include an archive of past winners and all 50 nominations from each year.

1st – Artwork by Rajni Perera for ‘Love Heart Cheat Code’ by Haitus Kaiyote

Creative Direction by Hiatus Kaiyote & Grey Ghost
Symbol art by Chloe Biocca
Product Design by Sean Preston

2nd – Artwork by Lulu Lin for ‘Romance’ by Fontaines D.C.

Design & Art Direction by Texas Maragh & Carlos O’Connell
Photography by Theo Cottle

3rd – Photography by Louis Browne for ‘Sentimental’ by Carlita

A big thank you goes out to our judging panel for another outstanding shortlist this year and three iconic winning covers.

Best Art Vinyl 2024
https://artvinyl.com/award-year/2024/

more info:
Art Vinyl names Record Cover Artwork of the Year
https://www.creativeboom.com/news/art-vinyl-names-record-cover-artwork-of-the-year/

2024’s best record sleeves – in pictures
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/jan/10/year-best-record-sleeves-lady-gaga-fontaines-dc-hiatus-kaiyote-in-pictures

love that first place artwork

Love the Post Malone visual shoutout to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils