Y Canwr Mewn Lifrai (1940-41)

Inside the image.

A square album cover in a limited blue and violet palette. A large monochrome photograph of a man in formal evening dress fills most of the left and centre. He is shown from about the waist up, turned slightly towards the viewer’s right and looking ahead with a faint smile. His dark hair is neatly combed back. He wears a dark dinner jacket, a white shirt and bow tie, and a folded white pocket square; his hands meet near the lower edge of the photograph. The image is cropped at the bottom and left, with his shoulder and arm extending beyond the frame.

A large vintage microphone stands in the right foreground, partly cut off by the right edge. Its rounded, ribbed head sits near the man’s shoulder level, with a narrow stand descending to the bottom. The microphone overlaps the blue background beside him, while the man remains the dominant focal point. The background is plain and evenly coloured, with no discernible setting. The photograph and lettering are tinted in shades of indigo, lavender and pale blue; highlights on the man’s face, shirt and microphone contrast with the deep jacket and darker shadows. The treatment is photographic, with some softness and tonal grain visible in the reproduced image.

The typography occupies the upper and middle right. “DAVID LLOYD” appears in very large, tall, narrow serif capitals, pale blue-white with dark edging or shadowing that separates the letters from the background. Beneath it, “Tenor” is centred in smaller lettering between thin horizontal rules. Below that, a compact block reads “Y canwr mewn lifrai” and “The singer in uniform”, followed by “1940~1947”. A small pale rectangular label underneath reads “CYFROL • VOLUME II”. Near the lower right, above the microphone head, “BBC” appears in a small outlined oval-like mark. The text is arranged in stacked, centred lines and leaves the photographed figure unobstructed.