Tears For Fears have addressed why they chose to use AI in the design of their new album cover.
The English pop band announced their new record, ‘Songs For A Nervous Planet’ (out October 25), earlier this month by sharing the cover art which features an astronaut in a field of sunflowers.
However, fans weren’t too pleased about the apparent use of artificial intelligence tools, with one Instagram user describing it as “embarrassing”. “Using AI art is such a joke,” another added, with a third writing: “You’d think as artists you wouldn’t want your work to be stolen but that’s what Gen AI does, disappointing to see this.”
Now, the ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ performers have responded to the controversy with a statement shared to Instagram over the weekend.
They confirmed that the cover was “envisioned in collaboration with” digital creator Vitalie Burcovschi. “The Songs For A Nervous Planet album artwork is a mixed media digital collage, with AI being just one of the many tools used in the creative process,” they explained.
“We wanted vibrant artwork that evoked a sense of sci-fi, futuristic themes, and an escape from what is known. The sunflowers are a joyful nod to classic Tears For Fears imagery, while the juxtaposition of the astronaut is a link to our upcoming song, Astronaut, and a sense of alienation and not belonging. We have been fans of Surrealistly’s work for a long time and knew he would be the perfect artist to bring our vision to life.”
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The group concluded with a statement from Burcovschi himself, who shared: “Collaborating with the band to bring their vision to life has been an incredible experience. Balancing surrealism with the emotional depth of their music was a challenge I fully embraced, and I believe the final artwork captures the powerful essence of their story.”
The artist’s website features the rolling tagline that his work is “art created by AI using human imagination”.
However, fans appeared to remain unconvinced in the comments, with one person writing: “How hard is it to hire an ARTIST to make something for your album.” Another added: “Disappointing to see you guys promoting this AI nonsense.”
Fans over on Reddit appeared to feel similarly about the use of AI in the album cover, with one person writing: “That’s an AI cover for something that could’ve been easily shot and edited.”
The first single from Tears For Fears’ new album, ‘The Girl That I Call Home’, is out now.
Speaking in a press release about the new track, Roland Orzabal shared: “My wife Emily has been on at me for years to try and write her a love song. So eventually I did it. I was in Hawaii, I took my phone with me and every day I would sing over the backing track, many, many times. But I couldn’t for the life of me, think of a title.
“Then one night, I went to bed and I did that thing where we ask the universe, ‘please gimme a hand, gimme, a really good title.’ I woke up the next morning with ‘The Girl That I Call Home.’ And my wife loves it.”
The new tracks are set to cover themes such as love, isolation, mental health and escapism.