Apparently the band just released a new album. No Kazutaka Miyao art though. Booooo.
Kazutaka Miyao's art for GOING UNDER GROUND is always on my mind. The band itself is one of my favorites, even if the subject matter of most of their tracks is pretty corny, I always adore the lead vocalist's causal and laidback tone, paired with with peppy and playful sounding synths one track and moody and broody sounding the next. Their music's very warm and familiar to me-- even their more melancholy tracks make for a comforting listen. Of course Miyano's drawings are apart of that appeal for me too. The two of them are a package set, can't imagine their music without him and I can't imagine his illustrations hitting as hard with me without the band-- that should be goal for all great album covers, right?
The dreamy nature of his covers always triggers a sense of longing and wistfulness in me. The top left cover especially. The city skyline abstracting colorful streaks and then those lights reflected on the obscured characters... I enjoy how it feels melancholy even with the range of color. All of his art for the band is great at hitting that balance: Melancholic without being too dour. On the surface you can see his drawings as cute, but there's always a somber undercurrent. Like an overcast day with a few sun rays poking out from the clouds. Which is exactly my jam!
The cover for HOME, the band's third album, is one my absolute favorites. All the previous qualities about his art: the melancholy, the longing, the wistfulness... Are all here in full display. I love how the abstracted the city skyline gets-- turning into a black void with the scratch marks sticking out, giving it such a cool texture. The dude in the foreground jamming out with his hand matching the position of the cloud. Perfect mix of freedom and loneliness. It's one of those pieces where I could look at it hours and never get tired of it, as there's always going to be some detail my brain latches on to.
I know I said "I can't imagine the band without his drawings" but he stopped being the band's go-to artist for their album covers around the late 2000s. He still comes back to draw a cover for a random single or so. His drawings are naturally more polished now, but I'm always going to miss that amateur roughness of the early albums and singles. Miyao now does illustrations for children's books these days, resulting in his style going in a lighter and playful direction. Which is still neat in it's own right but it resonates with me much less for obvious reasons.
There are some flashes of that longing and wistfulness that I adored about his earlier work in his recent stuff though.
I like how this one feels like a polished version of one of his early covers for the band. If it had more of that dreamy look I'd be all over it!
GOING UNDER GROUND is still making music to this day and have been for nearly thirty years now. While I'm sure I'll see him again on another single, I would love for him to draw another cover for a full fledged album again.. But until then, I'll always keep his work and the band, close to my heart.
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