Dead Astronaut Drops!

The other day, this announcement turned up on my Facebook wall:

“i have taken it upon myself to release the album Matthew has been dwelling on for the past 3 years

in a long-drawn-out debate regarding how and when to release it, time escaped us, and the initial pride of his (and his mates’) hard work swiftly dissipated into a query of whether or not this album continued to represent him. i will admit that his voice, his guitar skills, and even his writing style have evolved immensely since this recording – but i think it’s still something the world deserves to hear

you’re my favourite artist. don’t kill me”

David Chelsea is reading: View Master

by Gretchen Jane Gruber

The message was from Chloé Edelman, the aforementioned Matthew’s fiancee, and the cover subject of Matthew’s previous album, which I did the cover illustration for:

I don’t pretend to know the whys and wherefores of what led up to this album’s release, but I am happy that it leads to the to the release of my cover illustration, which I think is one of my better efforts. The title DEAD ASTRONAUT inspired me to do something in the style of a science fiction pulp magazine of the 1930s:

Below is my first rough pencil sketch (the idea came from a minor episode in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy):

Here is a more refined pencil sketch:

Here is my finished painting:

And the finished cover with type:

Follow this link to download the album. Happy listening!