10 Best Rock Music Album Covers Of The 2020s So Far
9. I Don’t Live Here Anymore - The War On Drugs
Rather than making music about the dangers of narcotics, The War on Drugs are a US indie outfit known for their Americana-infused take on the guitar-driven genre.
The band, which was co-founded by former member Kurt Vile, released their fifth album, I Don't Live Here Anymore, in October 2021. People went nuts for it, and it wound up on several publications' "Best of" lists when the year was out.
I Don't Live Here Anymore's cover might give a graphic design student nightmares. Just look at all that empty space! You could fit a whole other album cover in there!
In reality, it's this brazen use of blankness that makes the cover so captivating. It's highly unusual to see an album cover with the picture centred so far over to one side, which sets this record out from the rest of the pack.
The photograph of a man running whilst carrying a guitar and a mug was taken by the band's bass player Dave Hartley, who also provided snaps for the album's gatefold.
Such a simple photo invokes so many questions; Where is he running to? What's in the mug? Why isn't the guitar secured over his shoulder?
That's an accident waiting to happen.