The Horrors have been accused of plagiarising a visual artist with the artwork for their new single ‘Machine’.
On Tuesday (June 13), Faris Badwan and co returned with their comeback single while also announcing details of an intimate London show.
Following the news, artist David Rudnick took to Twitter to claim the band had ripped off fellow designer Jesse Kanda, who has worked with the likes of Björk and Arca.
“The Horrors ripping off @JesseKanda then sticking an obi strip+japanese text on their new album’s cover for no reason. Dont Do This,” Rudnick wrote, later claiming that the band “asked Jesse Kanda to do this artwork and he said no”. Rudnick goes on to say that The Horrors “then made work that was incredibly derivative of [Kanda’s] style.”
However, others have pointed out that the artwork may have been designed by Aphex Twin collaborator Chris Cunningham, who some say to be an influence on Kanda’s work. See in the tweets below.
NME has approached a Horrors press representative for a response.
The Horrors ripping off @JesseKanda then sticking an obi strip+japanese text on their new album's cover for no reason. Dont Do This pic.twitter.com/SPCxckY0iC
— ཊལབསརངཧ (@David_Rudnick) June 13, 2017
because they asked Jesse Kanda to do this artwork and he said no, and then made work that was incredibly derivative of his style
— ཊལབསརངཧ (@David_Rudnick) June 13, 2017
wrong, mate.The Horrors have worked with Chris Cunningham since 2006- whoJesse Kanda has consistently stolen from
— Dude (@judedoherty) June 13, 2017
See examples of Kanda’s artwork beneath:
Jesse Kanda / doon kanda(@jessekanda)、サウンド&アート・インスタレーションが東京と京都で開催 https://t.co/nmBY3T3PRJ pic.twitter.com/uHVlqzh8qD
— UNCANNY (@UNCANNY__JP) May 13, 2017
The Horrors’ new track ‘Machine’ was recorded at The Church Studios with Paul Epworth – known for his work with the likes of Adele, Florence + The Machine and more.
The band will be playing an intimate London club show at Omeara near London Bridge on July 11. Tickets are on sale and available here.
Fans have been expecting The Horrors’ fifth album since 2015, when they first started work with Epworth.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/?bctid=54608144001
Bassist Rhys Webb said: “We wanted to get back in there and get writing. We had a really busy year of touring, so we were ready to get working on new stuff. It’s just because time flies, and it moves so quickly and before you know it, it will be a couple of years between releases.”