Antony and the Johnsons Albums (3)
'The Crying Light'
Release Date 1/16/2009
Tracks 10
Label Rough Trade/Beggars
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The black-and-white image of legendary Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno that adorns the cover of The Crying Light, the third full-length by Antony and the Johnsons, seems to offer a view of a being enveloped in both ecstasy and agony -- or does it? The songs contained here offer something else: a glimpse of a universe beyond the pale of vision, seen only by the individual experiencing it. Antony Hegarty recorded and considered 25 songs for inclusion on The Crying Light, before settling on ten. The Johnsons are the inimitable cellist Julia Kent, Thomas Bartlett, Maxim Moston, Rob Moose, Jeff Langston, Parker Kindred, Doug Wieselman, and Will Holshouser. The additional orchestra includes Greg Cohen, Suzy Perelman, Tim Albright, and Lisa Albrecht, to name a few. Hegarty and composer Nico Muhly did the string arrangements. The Crying Light preoccupies itself with very different concerns than either of its predecessors. Whereas the material on I Am a Bird Now focused on sadness -- grasped and projected -- and in some cases real redemption, these songs look at a larger universe as reflected in the mirror of the individual. The natural world, the vast landscape of interconnectivity with all things, seems to be the primary focus on which the individual protagonists focus their gazes. That doesn't mean that the viewpoint of the singer is necessarily more optimistic. If anything, the truth offered here, and there is plenty of it, is acceptance. Musically, the softness and restrained textural lushness -- always propelled by the intimate, mysterious, exploring piano of Hegarty -- is highlighted by his voice that bears the traces of every heartbreak ever confessed, every quiet yet desperate hope ever held, and each prayer whispered to an unknown and unknowable God. Neo-classical underpinnings are entwined lovingly with broken pop songs and secretive after-hours cabaret poems. Check the opener, "Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground." The piano and cello fall together as one slow dancer, alone in the spotlight, keeping memory as time: "In the garden, with my mother/I stole a flower/With my mother, in her power/I chose a flower/I saw six eyes glistening in my womb/I felt you calling me in the gloom/Rest assured your love is pure...." The power of Mother Nature as it echoes inside the individual with all of its power and impersonal tenderness is embraced, accepted for what it teaches as well as what it offers. Elsewhere, on the gorgeous chamber pop of "Epilepsy Is Dancing," terror, power, and beauty are wrapped as one entity: "Epilepsy is dancing/She's the Christ now departing/And I'm finding my rhythm/As I twist in the snow...Cut me in quadrants/Leave me in the corner/Oh now it's passing/Oh now I'm dancing." Curse and blessing, sacrament and damnation. Other standouts, including the utterly gorgeous, elliptical "One Dove" and the single "Another World," reflect similar themes, though always from the projection of the most hidden flicker that seeks union with a larger illumination. Certainly this is spiritual, but it is not limited to that because it also exists in the physical world. Death is the constant undercurrent, but it's not so much morbid as another shade of the verdant universe. "Kiss My Name" is the hinge track, in waltz time with lovely reeds and violins, skittering with a drum kit -- it is both an anthem of love to life itself and a self-penned epitaph in advance. Whatever hopes you held in the aftermath of I Am a Bird Now, they have been exponentially exceeded in poetry, music, and honesty here. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Antony and the Johnsons' second full-length recording, the haunting and affecting I Am a Bird Now, is a far more intimate affair than their debut. Antony's bluesy parlor room cadence is more upfront here, resulting in a listening experience that's both exhilarating and disquieting. "Hope There's Someone" is a somber opener, and its plea for companionship, augmented by a sparse piano/vocal arrangement that rises into the air by song's end in a swirl of multi-tracked harmonies, is ultimately uplifting. This formula is applied to much of the record and never ceases to elicit honest emotion from either Antony or his numerous guests. Rufus Wainwright takes the lead on "What Can I Do?," a languid meditation on death that conjures up images of rainy streets, lonely lampposts, and cigar smoke -- it's brief (under two minutes) but alluring like the cover of a Raymond Chandler novel. Boy George joins Antony for a duet on the soulful and empowering "You Are My Sister," Devendra Banhart lends his warbly tenor to the lush "Spiraling," and Lou Reed plays noodly guitar and recites an anonymous poem on the mischievous "Fistful of Love." It's a testament to Antony's skill as a writer and arranger that these guest appearances are completely devoid of pretense, and while each artist is reverent to the source material, it's still Antony's show, as the most powerful moments on I Am a Bird Now are his. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
'Antony and the Johnsons'
Release Date 1/1/1997
Tracks 9
Label World Serpent
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Antony & the Johnsons have put together an elaborate assortment of artsy, sweet, and odd songs on their debut album. Antony's voice is a stunning musical instrument, sounding as feminine as it does masculine. Occasionally, he pulls out all the stops and affects a successful, soaring vocal style. The atmosphere of the album is dark yet somehow uplifting. The music, mostly slow, quiet jazz, played on a piano, harp, cello, flute, clarinets, saxophone, violins, and drums (in addition to some guitar work) occasionally matches Antony's bombastic vocals. Song titles like "Cripple and the Starfish," "Hitler in My Heart," and "The Atrocities" give an idea of the tone. "Hitler in My Heart" sees Antony searching for a "piece of kindness" but finding Hitler in his heart, before relating that "from the corpses, flowers grow." No matter what those lyrics suggest, the song itself begins as a playful, spooky art experiment before revealing itself to be a touching, introspective ballad. "Divine," an ode to the late, transvestite actor, is less amusing than one would think; somehow Antony makes lyrics like, "I hold your big fat heart in my hands" and "I'll swallow sh*t" appear respectful. There's not a dull moment to be found on the album, and "Blue Angel" closes the album in the only way possible, with wails and laments of "I'm on fire." Judging by the artwork and photographs included with the album and press reviews of live performances, there's a great deal of sexual ambiguity at work in the band's dynamics. Perhaps this same ambiguity is the driving force of the band's art. Whether that's the case or not, the band and the singer have mastered their sonic attack and created an extremely compelling debut album. ~ Tim DiGravina, All Music Guide
