‘Is it sexual? Or violent?’: 2024’s best record sleeves – in pictures

Cover art by Rajni Perera (1st prize winner) for Love Heart Cheat Code by Hiatus Kaiyote

The winning artwork is for Australian jazz/funk band Hiatus Kaiyote’s fourth album, Love Heard Cheat Code. Rajni Perera’s painting explores issues of hybridity, futurity, ancestorship and marginalised identities. She explains that the work ‘acknowledges the sacred female energy that drives this universe and restores balance to it. Even by painting it I have been blessed.’ All 50 shortlisted nominees are on display in the window of the Hari hotel, London, until 1 February

Cover art by Lulu Lin (2nd prize winner) for Romance by Fontaines DC

Second place went to the artwork for Romance, the fourth album by Fontaines DC. The Dublin band licensed a series of Taiwanese artist Lulu Lin’s work for use across their album campaign. Lin’s body of work uses bold colour, adopting a bright, electric palette dedicated to distorted, stretched and warped faces, producing visuals to become as memorable as the album itself

Photograph: XL Recordings

Cover image by Louis Browne (3rd prize winner) for Sentimental by Carlita

In third place is London-born, New York-based photographer and director, Louis Browne. His image for Turkish-Italian DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist Carlita (real name Carla Frayman) appeared on the sleeve of her long-awaited debut album Sentimental. Browne is known for his eclectic approach to visual storytelling. The cover image reflects Carlita’s musical and artistic shift away from high-energy aesthetics towards a softer, more reflective vision

Photograph: Ninja Tune

Cover image by Nick Waplington for Daffodils & Dirt by Sam Morton

Nick Waplington’s picture was taken during half-time of an England match in the 1990 World Cup. The car in shot was outside the house of his grandfather, who was a parts man at aBritish Leyland garage and helped to fix neighbours’ cars. You can see more of Waplington’s work in our gallery

Photograph: XL Recordings

Cover art by Beedallo for People Who Aren’t There Anymore by Future Islands

People Who Aren’t There Anymore is the title of a painting by New Mexico-based artist and Future Islands fan Beedallo. Another of their works, Fading Memory of a Face, was used by the band as the album artwork. It feels in tune with the hazy, sombre reflections of the album

Photograph: 4AD

Cover image by Scarlett Carlos Clarke for Harlequin by Lady Gaga

This sleeve was taken by London-based photographer and artist Scarlett Carlos Clarke, whose debut solo exhibition, The Smell of Calpol on a Warm Summer’s Night, featured imagery of life in lockdown, depicting scenes of domestic dystopia and the profound isolation of motherhood

Photograph: Interscope Records

Cover image by B+ for Apocalypse (Ten Year Anniversary Edition) by Thundercat

Ninja Tune’s head of production and design Sean Preston explained that this reworked anniversary cover art was a blend of two quite ordinary techniques to get to an extraordinary finish: a deluxe rainbow holographic sleeve with gold foil detail, housed in a transparent PVC outer slipcase with an ‘X-ray’ holographic skull print

Photograph: Ninja Tune

Cover art by Matt Hansel for Paradise State of Mind by Foster the People

The album’s artwork, commissioned by the band, was originally an oil painting, created by renowned Brooklyn based artist Matt Hansel. It captures the essence of different spaces in the mind. Each represents its current state and leads to another that may have a totally different feeling

Photograph: Atlantic Records

Cover image by Gonzalo Lebrija for F-1 Trillion by Post Malone

Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion album cover visuals were created by Gonzalo Lebrija, a renowned artist on Mexico’s multimedia scene. Lebrija and his team used a crane to drop the truck into Presa Salto del Nogal in Jalisco, Mexico. The image draws inspiration from previous pieces in Lebrija’s catalogue, particularly As Time Goes By, which featured a car suspended on a lake in much the same way

Photograph: Mercury/Republic

Cover image by Blair Caldwell and Frederik Heyman for Cowboy Carter by Beyoncé

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter cover shot was taken by Texas-born photographer Blair Caldwell, whose portfolio has earned him a reputation as a go-to photographer for Black women in the music industry. Caldwell’s distinctive aesthetic, characterised by clean lines, minimalist backgrounds and vintage-inspired imagery, perfectly complements the vision of artists including Beyoncé

Photograph: Columbia

Cover image by Søren Lynggaard for Things We Have in Common by Efterklang

This cover image features the three band members’ hands shot by Danish photographer Søren Lynggaard, assisted by Niels Buhl Hendriksen. The hand movements choreography was by Alma Toaspern

Photograph: City Slang

Cover art by by Sidonie Osborne-Staples for Soft Tissue by Tindersticks

Frontman Stuart A Staples’s artist daughter, Sidonie Osborne-Staples, created this felt piece for the cover image. She also created ceramic pieces and landscapes for the stop-motion film accompanying the album’s first track New World

Photograph: Publicity imaCity Slang

Cover art by JP Mika for La Vie Est Belle by Amadou and Mariam

This painting is by Democratic Republic of the Congo-born artist, Jean-Paul Nsimba Mika, who is known for his portraits on floral fabrics. His vintage-style paintings have a nostalgic and happy tone that perfectly reflect the album title

Photograph: Because Music

Cover art by Wilson Trouvé for All Things Shining by Oh Hiroshima

The cover painting is by French artist Wilson Trouvé. The band stumbled on the artwork while writing All Things Shining and felt that it would be a very fitting cover. They got in touch with Trouvé and bought the artwork before they’d even finished all the writing

Photograph: Pelagic

Cover art by Alex Bunn for Golden Triangle by Sex Swing

This artwork was made by Alex Bunn who is a British artist living in Norway. The sleeve is a gatefold with one closed pocket, with soft touch matte lamination to enhance the texture

Photograph: God Unknown

Cover art by Christina Quarles for Something in the Room She Moves by Julia Holter

For the cover art of Something in the Room She Moves, Holter chose a painting titled Wrestling by her childhood friend Christina Quarles, whose work often sees complex and layered figures. Holter says: ‘It’s unclear what they’re doing. Like, is it sexual? Is it kind of violent … or maybe both? It really felt right to me. There’s so many layers to her work. I think that’s what I love about it. It’s … complicated’

Photograph: Domino Records

Cover image and art by Royal Gilbert and Big Active for Que Ta Tête Fleurisse Toujours by Mika

The album title, which translates as ‘may your head always bloom’, suggests a hinterland of dreams and creativity, which designer Mat Maitland of Big Active and Mika interpreted into a fantasy image of Mika sitting on a cloud. Stylistically they strove to create something between a photo and a painting to further support the concept

Photograph: Island Def Jam

Cover art by Aidan Moffat for I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give a Fuck Anymore 👍 by Arab Strap

The original painting used here is Spadająca Gwiazda by Witold Pruszkowski. It was painted in 1884 but only adorned in inimitable Arab Strap style recently

Photograph: Rock Action