Baroness Share Beautiful, Sprawling Cover Painting for New Album Gold & Grey
After a week’s worth of teasing, Baroness revealed last Friday that their new album cover would focus on the colors gold and silver/grey, then unveiled a new song called “Borderlines” live at the first date of their tour with Deafheaven. The color themes of Baroness’s album covers have, of course, become a crucial part of the band’s identity, with guitarist/vocalist John Baizley, an extremely talented visual artist with a distinct style many have imitated, creating the artwork himself for each one.
Baroness have now shared the full painting for the cover of what we have now learned will be called Gold & Grey, and WOW, what a doozy! That’s the entire thing at the bottom of this post — we’ve embedded it in full resolution, click to enlarge — although it’s likely that only a portion of it will be used for the forward-facing album cover as has been the case in the past. The painting leans heavily on sexual imagery as has always been the case with Baizley’s work, but there’s a new level of complexity and line work this time around that represents the next evolution of his style.
Baizley himself offered of the sprawling painting, which he says will be the last of the band’s chromatic-themed album covers:
“Here is the full cover painting for our new album, Gold & Grey. This is just the first piece of a much larger puzzle. Like the forthcoming album itself, it is the result of an intense, tireless, and psychotically convoluted creative process. Both artistically and musically, Baroness have always taken a no compromise approach towards our releases, and I can’t express strongly enough how excited we are to be so close to the verge of our newest release. This painting was born from a deeply personal reflection on the past 12 years of this band’s history, and will stand as the 6th and final piece in our chromatically-themed records. It has been an absolutely wild ride, a truth much stranger than fiction, with nearly as many low points as there have been highs, but throughout all, this band has offered me an inspired place to express myself and find some level of comfort through our visual and sonic output. I hope you all enjoy this album cover (sorry it’s not called Orange). Don’t look too closely, you might just see all the hidden elements. We want to thank everyone for your heartfelt support over the years, it means the world to us. We also appreciate your continued patience. Gold & Grey will be out soon, and then the real fun begins. I assure you, we have no plans to slow down anytime soon.”
What could the “hidden elements” be that Baizley is referring to? Chime in below in the comments if you think you can spot them.
Baroness haven’t yet revealed a release date for Gold & Grey, but we can assume that news is coming very soon along with the official premiere of a recorded version of “Borderlines.”
