Original Cover Design
- Sleeve 009/100: TANDA (2021)
- Studio Album by Alex Ferreira
- Label: MEDIAISLA
- Genre: Tropical (Bachata, Merengue, Salsa )
- Original Cover Artwork photography by Sebastian Cabrera Chelin. Graphic design by Edwin Erazo.
Sleeve number 9 for my project #100albumsleeves🔥.
This one came to me unpredictably. I had already chosen another album, but on a late-night, I remembered Alex Ferreira was debuting a new LP. I listened to it and I was hooked by the emotions it made me feel.
There’s an interlude song, “Majo Ajo” (I Crush Garlic), a recording of his mom narrating her lentils recipe. 1 minute and 28 seconds of pure beauty, enough for me to cry.
The Dominican accent of his mom, and the way she describes the recipe, reminded me of my own mom.
The other songs make me want to dance, and at times even sing as their lyrics are also very catchy. “Playa Madama“, “No Se Rompe” and “La Vida Es Un Chin” are my absolute favorites (though it was hard to pick).
The album closes with another recording of his mom, now narrating a tomato sauce recipe while encouraging Alex to stop buying the one sold in the supermarket. I found myself agreeing with her as during 2020’s quarantine I learned how to make home-made tomato sauce and Mexican hot salsas (DUDE they taste way better and are rather easy to make).
Lineart version, ink on paper.
Inspired by Majo Ajo, I made an illustration with some of the ingredients: Lentils, Garlic, Onion, Laurel leaves, and Olive Oil. The garlic, the laurel, and the oil are crushed in a classic Dominican wood mortar and pestle. I’m pretty happy with the result, and I ended up liking both the black and white and the full-color version. The B&W I imagine could work really well as an inner sleeve for the vinyl disc and also for merchandise.
Album Cover Redesign by franzmori. This is fan art, no copyright infringement intended.
Would you like your own Album Cover design?
I’m available for commissions!
Listen to the art! I’ll be adding a new album each week to this Spotify playlist HERE.
To know more about my personal project and see the rest of the cover designs in this series, go HERE.