The Chemical Brothers — We Are the Night. Story behind of the cover with hands

It turns out that the cover of We Are the Night by The Chemical Brothers is an homage to the Austrian artist and American designer Herbert Bayer. In addition to painting, sculpture, decoration of houses and their facades, Bayer was into photo collage, trying to fix his dreams in it. His work Things to Come with two hands looking at us almost indifferently became the canvas for the future studio album of the Brothers.

The elements of the picture were the main theme in the promotion of the release. Already at the stage of sketches and promos for the album, the silhouette of hands with constellations on a blue background wasn’t so different from the Herbert Bayer’s original work. The agency Big Active shot a promo video where the viewer flies among the cover mountains and catches someone else’s gaze. On June 26, the day before the official release of the record, the duo performed at Glastonbury where they presented a part of the sixth album. To promote it, two inflatable five-meter hands with eyes and constellations on them were ordered.

Apparently, due to problems with the copyright to Bayer’s works (as well as the fact that he wasn’t initially listed as the source of inspiration), The Chemical Brothers’ label Virgin had to re-release the album with a different cover. The hands and eyes disappeared while mountains and constellations, though lying differently, remained. However, by that time the album had already been certified gold, and the Brothers received a Grammy for it.