Antony and The Johnsons – The Crying Light

It seems somehow fitting that The Crying Light has come out in the week that the nominations for this years Brit awards. After all, it was his win in the 2005 Mercury Music Prize that moved him from cult sensation to the outskirts of the mainstream. Who would have thought that when I Am A Bird Now was released a little over four years ago, sports presenters on Radio 5 Live would be proclaiming him as their favourite act and asking why he didn’t get a nomination, as they did earlier this week? In the four years that have passed, Antony has been a prolific collaborator, working with the likes of Hercules and Love Affair, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Boy George and Bjork amongst others. This collaborative spirit is very much evident on The Crying Light, where Antony is accompanied by the swirling strings and minimal arrangements of Philip Glass protege Nico Muhly.Where Hegarty’s distinctive voice has been the key factor in previous records, in Muhly he has found the perfect foil. Hegarty’s lilting vocals flow along with the delicately swooping strings and sparse piano lines. Where once was over theatricality and angst there is now an elegant restraint and confidence, something Hegarty has put down to his collaboration with Bjork in a recent interview with The London Paper. Apparently She told him to sing louder, saying “Enough of these nuanced warbles”. And it seems he took her advice to heart. The Crying Light showcases a less emotionally overwrought side of Hegarty, away from the psychological cabaret and into the world of modern classical and Jazz. There is more than a little of Nina Simone’s emotional delivery in the beautiful ‘Daylight and The Sun’, while ‘Kiss My Name’ and ‘Epilepsy is Dancing’ feel joyous and uplifting, Hegarty joined by swirling flutes and strings, accompanying the poetic lyrics. There is also an overwhelming positivity in places as well, as evidended by Aeon’s call to arms: “Let’s take our power back. It doesn’t have to be this way.”When everything falls in to place, and all the elements at work here combine, as they do on ‘Everglade’, there is an undeniable beauty that transcends mere pop music. Repeatedly coming back to ideas of birth, death and regeneration, both of the individual and the world as a whole Hegarty succeeds in taking the deeply personal ideas of ‘I am a Bird Now’ and making them universal and worldly. Yet this is not an immediate record, rather one that reveals more of itself upon each listen. The Crying Light is a remarkably beautiful yet powerful work by an extraordinary artist; a subtle, meditative tour de force. 91%Antony and The Johnsons on Myspace