The Crying Light

The Crying Light marks Antony And The Johnsons’ first full-length release since I Am A Bird Now, the 2005 release that scooped the Mercury Music Prize from under the nose of Bloc Party and Coldplay, and marked out Antony Hegarty--an ex-pat Englishman with the voice of a distressed angel and a fruitful history in New York’s gay/transgender cabaret scene--as an unlikely sort of household name. Housed in a striking sleeve picturing aged Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno, The Crying Light is both grander and more intimate in tone than its predecessor, ten tracks arranged with the help of composer Nico Muhly that find Hegarty pondering themes of nature and humanity, death and rebirth. Grand, because here, Hegarty’s florid piano pieces are fleshed out by musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Milan Symphony – but intimate, because songs like “Another World” and the gorgeous “Epilepsy Is Dancing” employ orchestral trimmings with such grace and restraint. Most surprising, though, is “Aeon”, a cut of forceful, passionate soul that finds Hegarty preaching empowerment over raw, circling electric guitar. A grand return, from one of music’s true originals. --Louis Pattison