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The Crying Light

Antony & The Johnsons

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iTunes Review

Few vocalists can command such authority with such fragility. Antony Hegarty uses his emotionally volatile voice to definitively deliver his questions to the universe where everyone is suffering from some sort of psychic displacement and the dead float nearer to the surface than most can imagine. 2009's The Crying Light, his third album, features somber piano notes drifting into the ether, cellos that stretch their passages to the breaking point, and other orchestrations that emphasize a world where everything is approaching if not crisis, then a breaking point of sublime majesty. Even a track named "Daylight and the Sun" uses dramatic shadows to make its point. "Another World" calls out like a prayer for something greater than we can imagine. "Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground" focuses on the dead. "Aeon" is virtually a rocker, using electric guitars and organ and even drums to kick into what could almost be called a soulful strut. "Everglade" emerges as sunlight breaking over the darkest dawn with its swelling brass and strings. In the end, it's Hegarty's voice, a true natural wonder, pulling the pieces together.  

Customer Reviews

Hauntingly Beautiful

To listen to this album and not feel touched in some way is an exercise in futility. That is because what is presented here is some of the most heartfelt and meloncholy music created in some time. On every song you can feel the emotion that seems to pour out from Antony's very being. "Dust and Water" stands out to me because, although his words are nearly unintelligible, one can still very much feel the raw passion that Antony infuses into every song. Yes, it's just music, but it somehow transcends being solely an auditory experience and becomes something much more. Something magical.

emotional masterpiece

Antony's back strong and emotionally on target. Also check out Eddie Skuller's "I Envy the Wind"

Equals (and possibly betters) his last

A strikingly beautiful record. The arrangements are even more sparse than the already-stark "I Am a Bird Now," but the emotional range here is quite diverse, though still understated. The songs are more universal in theme than those of previous releases, with Nature serving as an overall theme for most of the album. Antony's voice remains the core of his work with the Johnsons, gliding gracefully from reverie to weary resignation in his warm and expressive vibratto. More accessible, upbeat releases like Animal Collective's new LP will likely get most of the praise this year, but hopefully this collection of carefully sculpted sounds and textures will also get the attention it deserves.

Biography

Formed: 1995 in New York, NY

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s, '10s

U.K. born, California-raised Antony Hegarty felt himself to be the consummate outsider until he came face to face with the image of Boy George on the cover of the Culture Club's 1982 debut album, Kissing to Be Clever. He relocated to New York City in 1990, where he found a world more accepting of his avant-garde sensibilities and sexually ambiguous nature. He created the cabaret ensemble Blacklips and modeled himself after Blue Velvet-era Isabella Rossellini and the drag queen that graced the cover...
Full Bio

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