FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – On the album cover of Karen Jonas' "The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch," released in August 2024, Karen is depicted holding a drink and a bottle of liquor, sporting a neutral expression and a few tattoos here and there. Throw in a 1960s floor-model television set, an ashtray, a religious statue, and an electric guitar, and it all screams "kitsch," from the day when it was hip to be kitsch.
Jonas and a photographer tossed around a couple of ideas before settling on the art for the cover. “We were thinking about it for a couple of months, it was fun,” she said.