Behind The Artworks: Layover – Your Laughter Never Leaves (2018)

Emo punks Layover recently unveiled the video for lead single ‘Slumber’ (here), a track taken from the Birmingham quartet’s EP ‘Your Laughter Never Leaves’, out via Fox Records on 4 th May 2018. Having gone on hiatus in 2016, this 2018 version of Layover can be considered a clean slate. Founded in 2014 and previously releasing “very DIY” material that is misaligned with their renewed energy and considered aesthetic, Rainsford explains: “The sound of our old music does not represent us, and we have matured as musicians and people since then. We come with a new direction to start in a genre we are more passionate about.” As release day approaches, the band reveal how the EP’s artwork was created and what it signifies…

“When approaching the artwork we wanted to using a photograph and not a graphic. We were trying to achieve a "sentimental" vibe, with an image that appeared that someone was reflecting on a memory within a nice backdrop. Initially we were inspired by Real Friends - Put Yourself Back Together, by creating a pile of items that held sentimental value to each of us, however we struggled to think of what we would put in the photograph.

We saw then saw this image that our friend and photographer Nathan Heffernan had taken in the Lake District on Twitter. It captured the kind of vibe we wanted perfectly, so we approached him, asking him to take an additional photo for us, using the same technique as on the original. 

When we approached him, we wanted his input with ideas and approach that he would take on it. He then told us how he had an image similar to what we were trying to achieve - his girlfriend at the Lake District a few months prior. He took this with a unique lens that he was playing around with at the time. Editing the photograph into black and white for us, we were then able to create a flowing image from the vinyl front cover to the back cover, and edit the female out of the image. We thought this created a really interesting design as the flow of the mountains made it look like one single image. We think the image captured the vibe of what we wanted perfectly. An image that looks like a person is reflecting on a series of memories, fitting with the idea of one of our leading lyrics – “who would ever guess that I would end up sentimental?”