Behind The Artwork: Catch Fire - A Love That I Still Miss (2017)

Nottingham Pop Punks Catch Fire released sophomore EP ‘A Love That I Still Miss’ on 24th March via Rude Records. Comprised of vocalist Miles Kent, guitarists Tim Bell and Neal Arkley, drummer Ash Wain and bassist Joseph Ryan Askew, they formed ashes of local heroes Layby and released debut EP The Distance I Am From You via Rude Records in early 2016. For ALTISM the guys spent 3 weeks in the studio with Myroslav Borys of Jigsaw Audio, having found a good chemistry with the producer when recording December’s cover of Alessia Cara’s Wild Things. If you’re a fan of emo-tinged pop punk, with intricate guitars and driving rhythm, evoking Trash Boat and Knuckle Puck, then you’ll certainly be wanting to listen in! Now the guys are here to discuss how their artwork came about…

“The cover is a photo taken by a photographer from New York called Jon Shireman. He took a series of photos of flowers that he’d soaked and frozen in liquid nitrogen and then dropped which caused them to shatter. The label sent it over as an idea for single art for “Guilty As Charged”, but we loved it that much, that we wanted to use it for the entire thing. We thought it worked better for it too, as it represents the theme of fragility and sadness, which is a reoccurring theme throughout the EP.

We wanted artwork to correspond with the lyrical content and overall nature of the music on the EP, so we spent a lot of time thinking about what we could use. The label sent the photo to us at quite an early stage, so we were lucky to get this box ticked early on and didn’t have to stress too much about finding something suitable. We all fell in love with it instantly; it’s simple, but it says exactly what we want it to say. Originally, we were planning on using this photo for the artwork, with the title of the EP being the sign reading “Danger, Thin Ice”. We couldn’t use this simply because this photo was taken on an iPhone 4s and wasn’t good enough quality. We tried to recreate the photo, but the weather was never good enough, and the grass had overgrown in front of the sign. 

We also tried a cartoony version of the flower as an idea, but we preferred the original as it looked more “mature” which is exactly what we wanted. The artwork ties really nicely into the inlays, lyric booklets, and even merch. The color scheme of white and pink translates perfectly onto T- shirts, flags and even the CD itself. Sometimes colours and fonts can clash and be overpowering, and more often than not, the simpler it is, the more effective.