Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light

Antony’s third album starts in suitably maudlin fashion. That just seems to be what Antony’s voice does. As the title of the opening track would suggest, Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground is rather sombre and grave. It’s followed by Epilepsy is Dancing which improves on the previous track, Antony picking out words carefully to start with, before pirouetting off with the tune and working himself up into an out of control dervish. One Dove is a bit more fractious, while Kiss My Name swirls round on an outer space kids TV tune. Another World is another ones of those drama soaked piano ballads he does so well, which he follows with Daylight And The Sun. This is a blissful, gorgeous pairing of songs that form a great centrepiece to the album. Dust & Water is a curious warble; either Antony is speaking in tongues or maybe just mumbling. Either that or it’s a foreign language. It gives the tune a weird other worldly feel to it. Everglade, though only short, is a wonderful grand climax to the album, one that builds and builds, before sliding out. In short The Crying Light is another wonderful album of what Antony and band do best.

The Crying Light is released on Rough Trade on January 19th
Antony and the Johnsons website is here