In order to begin the selection process I listened to each track in turn, and for the ones that appealed to me the most, made some rough notes on the thoughts that I had when I heard each song, and potential ideas for the cover design. The songs that really appealed to me the most were Clearest Blue by Chvches, At Last by Etta James, Art School by The Jam and Dream 3 by Max Richter. The tracks Worry by Jack Garrett and The Less I Know The Better by Tame Impala did not appeal to me in terms of style and sound, and so I felt I did not want to explore these options. Having prior knowledge of both the song Imagine, and John Lennon as a person, I knew that I did not want to explore the last option as, personally, I felt I could not endorse the music of an abusive, cheating misogynist.
Chvches - Clearest Blue
Poppy, a modern version of 70's synth pop
Bright colours, geometric shapes, coloured circles
Etta James - At Last
Smooth, classy, elegant, powerful, delicate, timeless, tear off match books, classic roses, a woman in charge but very much in love
A perspex box stuffed full of clovers ('and my heart was wrapped in clovers'), a specimen box full of items that depict a classic love (matchbooks, a rose, glitter? lots of things squashed into a perspex box and pressed against one side), paper cut shapes
The Jam - Art School
Fast and furious, capturing the era (70's), kids going to art school, anarchy, social activism, not staying quiet, political young minds, jeans that don’t fit properly, no rules, the bauhaus!, kids together, kids against adults, socks visible above shoes, rough words, messy hair, the media is shit, doing what you want
Words written on hands and wrists, palms outwards, publicly available images from the bauhaus, collaged, something interactive, something rough, photocopied paper, scanned wavy letters
Max Richter - Dream 3
Delicate, simple, immersive,
Deep space, the night sky, the man on the moon advert