Behind The Artworks: PYTHIA - The Solace Of Ancient Earth (2019)

Ross (Guitarist): Whilst nearing completion of writing the album I listened through the demos and read through Sophie’s lyrics and felt that the album had a very organic and nature driven theme to it (Spirits Of The Trees, Soul To The Sea, An Earthen Lament, etc) so it would be fitting for it to have an organic, hand-drawn style of artwork. I felt that something unique, iconic and artistic, in its own right, would be a cool thing to have as the album cover. I had come across Freyja Brown’s artwork on social media a few years ago and was blown away by its detail and unique character. She was my first thought for this art project. I contacted her and simply described the rough concept and the album title and left her to come up with the perfect piece to be our album cover. She absolutely delivered that. We couldn’t be more happy with the end result. 

Freyja (Artist): I was delighted and honoured to be trusted with the design for Pythia’s new album artwork. Ross approached me after shortlisting me amongst a few other artists. Coincidentally, I am also a long term friend of the vocalist, Sophie Dorman. She didn’t know he had found and selected my artwork for the task, so it felt like a very small world! I was excited, as he wanted a style and theme that fits well with my own artistic interests. I listened through the demos, and carefully studied the lyrics to construct a design that expressed the lyrical themes and mood in a manner that resonated with the rest of the band. After agreeing on a final design, I produced an A3 drawing that took around 50+ hours. I used black ink pens of various thickness and used dots and lines to create depth and detail that I felt would make an attractive cover. The band gave me a lot of freedom to express myself creatively, which I loved. I feel that the best art comes from a place of spontaneity and inspiration, so it was nice to draw something in an unrestricted manner. I am pleased that the band enjoyed the end result, and hope that I managed to accurately convey their music through my art.