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| Jamie T "Trick" (2016) |
Genre: indie, post-punk revival
Jamie T's fourth studio album, Trick, was released on 2 September 2016. The album cover depicts a naked man with scruffy black hair pointing at the air. Around him are working-class citizens wearing flamboyant outfits, most of which are gossiping to each other while those near the stairs look up at the centre figure. There is a crowd of four shirtless figures, one of which is holding a torch while he is draped under a white flag. The entire album cover is a painting by Paul Falconer Poole entitled 'Solomon Eagle'.
Depicted here is a Quaker with a burning pan of charcoal on his head "denouncing of judgement upon the city". The painting offers a visual aesthetic which represents the overall theme of Jamie T's studio album.
The masthead is not present on the album cover packaging which enforces a sense of enigma upon the audience, but also challenges the codes and conventions of a normal digipak simply because the genre of music is indie. Also, there is no price tag present on the album; the latter would be only found when the vinyl record is sold in mainstream media shops such as HMV and other local stores.
The back of the 'Trick' vinyl cover depicts a rotting yellow wallpaper draped with flowers. A much more simplistic layout than the front cover, this symbolises a poverty-stricken house interior, reminiscent of one in a deprived borough of London. Some of the wallpaper is torn apart, with the barcode on the top right and the Virgin Records logo below it. The torn wallpaper depicts a contrast between the front and the back cover, with the latter representing disarray in the home where it used to be beautiful.
Tracks on Side A and Side B are displayed in bold white font in the middle of the backdrop.
This is a common convention found on all vinyl digipaks, with five tracks on both sides.
The vinyl record shows a symbol of a cracked black and white skull in the middle - one seen on the front cover of 'Trick'; the skull emblem was designed by Shaun Paterson. This is a repeated motif used by Jamie to establish branding in his product.
The inner fold of the vinyl record for Jamie T's "Trick" contains all the lyrics to the 12 songs split over 6 vinyl discs. In addition to this, they resemble newspaper cuttings placed on top of a collage of various Jamie T-related images. This is to reflect the indie genre - a quite unusual way of designing a backdrop for the album inner art, which also shows Treays' creative innovation. (Conventional art).
Brand image is evident because the same skull logo on the album cover and back also appears on the left side - eagle-eyed viewers will recognise the skull as a symbol of familiarity - the same motif that repeats often throughout the album packaging.
Jamie T's creativity expands as the gatefold contains a collage of different photographs cut and stuck down on the surface as an artistic backdrop. Twin acoustic guitars can be seen, as well as a parade of revellers and the word "TRICK" on the right. The man with the burning urn and pictures of Jamie T himself along with historical photos are part of the collage. All of this information clearly fits the indie genre, whilst clearly challenging the typical codes and conventions of most digipaks because the gatefold and inner cover obviously doesn't stick to a specific colour palette.
Jamie clearly uses his time in the studio constructively, effectively spending it on the quality of the gatefold and inner cover, while in contrast using a painting as the album cover and a house wallpaper as the backdrop for the back cover for "Trick". Overall, the digipak represents the unique innovation of a musical artist seeking to win appeal from their fans in a particular way, not concerning their physical appearance.
OTHER DIGIPAKS BY JAMIE T:
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| Jamie T "Carry on the Grudge" (2014) |
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| Jamie T "Panic Prevention" (2007) |
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| Jamie T "Kings & Queens" (2009) |
Jamie T's latest album is clearly advertised on his website to promote sales and streams through various music platforms and even his own music store: Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and Jamie T Store.
The skull motif is recurrent throughout his website to create a sense of branding, which proves effective for "Trick" to sell well across different media platforms. Young audiences will instantly recognise Jamie T's skull motif and subsequently will flock to view other Jamie T related products.
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