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Doja Cat‘s new album, Scarlet, is already getting a makeover. Shortly after posting cover art for the album that showed a pink spider with eight arms to hold you, she removed it from the web a day after announcing it. Now, the album features not one but two arachnids — and this time they’re kissing. Dusty Ray, who’d created the original spider image, also created the double spider image, a gouache watercolor painting titled Venatrix.
The original spider art came as a surprise to fans, especially as news broke that the same image would grace the cover of an album by a metallic-edged hardcore band from Germany called Chaver. They’d posted their cover for an album called Of Gloom, a month before Doja Cat, and praised artist Dusty Ray, who had provided art for previous albums of theirs. “The striking cover art, masterfully crafted by Dusty Ray @sloppjockey_ert (who has been with us since our first album), serves as a captivating contrast to the album’s intense music, setting the stage for a trip to a place of pain,” the band wrote in an Instagram post.
When Doja Cat posted her spider art, Dusty Ray included it in a tweet showing involvement in the album art. Nevertheless, Doja Cat, Chaver, and Dusty Ray all made no comment on the coincidence of the two LPs – both due for release on Sept. 22 – containing the same art.
In spite of the bizarre marketing rollout, Doja Cat has nevertheless remained committed to teasing Scarlet’s release. She hasn’t yet revealed its track list, but she has released the singles “Attention” and “Paint the Town Red.” Around the time of the cover confusion, she was hinting at the release of another track, “Demons.” She also has a Scarlet tour planned to kick off on Halloween – a perfect day for celebrating spiders.
