Send "Antony and the Johnsons " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Sputnikmusic |
 It takes me a long time to listen to new albums, and I can only remember one time where I've regretted it. Antony And The Johnsons's The Crying Light came out in 2009, but I didn't bother listening to it until a few months into 2010. I regretted it not because it wasn't on my 2009 year-end list when it should have been, but because it seemed like just the sort of album I'd been missing. It was full of beautiful, fluttering chamber pop that I couldn't seem to grasp, so I kept listening. The music was ethereal - ice melting to water and then turning to steam over and over again. I still can't really get a hold on the vocal flourishes, the lilting piano, the ululating melodies, but if there's ever been a record to close your eyes and drift off to, it's The Crying Light.The preceding album, I Am A Bird Now, was very similar, and the release of Swanlights so soon after The Crying Light leads me to believe that Antony Hegarty is truly an inspired individual. Fanboys of certain bands will sometimes say things along the lines of, "This band could record themselves taking a shit and I'd think it was a classic," but Hegarty's got the kind of voice that makes such claims seem almost plausible. But it's not just his voice that makes the music so good; it's his penchant for writing songs that rise and fall with inhuman dexterity, with incredible precision. Even so, the songs don't seem planned. Take "Fletta," from this album, for example. Here, Antony sings a duet in Icelandic with the always resplendent Bjork. The vocals and Antony's piano don't seem to follow any pattern other than that which is dictated by some unseen guide known only to Antony and Bjork, whose voices weave inexplicably around each other. And while there isn't much else going on in the track except for vocals and piano, it is utterly mesmerizing and interesting, especially when the tempo speeds up without warning. As far as immaculate duets go, you couldn't ask for a more mystical pair than Antony and Bjork....full text |
| Themuseinmusic |
| I just got an email with a little bit of a peek into what is in store for us when the new Antony and The Johnsons’ Swanlights album comes out later this fall. If you remember the album will be accompanied by a 144 page hard cover book chuck full of Antony’s paintings, collages, photography and writings. Below you’ll find two of the paintings that will appear in the book, one titled “Christina’s Farm” and the other titled “The Creek”. These paintings are exactly what I would expect out of Antony. Something that you can continually look at day after day and come up with different reasoning every time. The album promises to be “Antony’s most wide-rangingly emotional work to date”. The press release describes it far better than I can. “Everything is New” opens the album with a newborn piano melody that quickly gathers in momentum and excitement. Strings and bursts of percussion carry the song forward in a feral cacophony of sound. Later on the album, the title track “Swanlights” finds us navigating a primordial and hallucinatory world of hazy guitar tones. The enigmatic layered melody of “Swanlights” emerges from a glistening soundscape. A central image on the album, Antony explains what he means by the word “Swanlights”: ”It’s the reflection of light on the surface of the water at night. It’s the moment when a spirit jumps out of a body and turns into a violet ghost.” On “Thank You For Your Love”, Antony expresses a soul-infused sentiment of gratitude, but the song progresses into urgency, leaving behind the 4/4 rhythmic structure and breaking into an emotional gallop that reveals an underlying pathos. 01. Everything is New 02. The Great White Ocean 03. Ghost 04. I’m In Love 05. Violetta 06. Swanlights 07. The Spirit Was Gone 08. Thank You For Your Love 09. Flétta (feat. Björk) 10. Salt Silver Oxygen 11. Christina’s Farm This isn’t the first time that Antony and Björk have collaborated. Antony lent his pipes to Björk’s “The Dull Flame of Desire” on her 2007 release Volta....full text |
| Spinner |
| Antony and the Johnsons' fourth record, 'Swanlights,' will not only feature more of the Antony Hegarty's emotional vocals and soundscapes, it will also give fans a peak at his artistic side. Abrams Image will release a special edition of 'Swanlights' that includes a 144-page art book showcasing Hegarty's personal paintings, photos and other writings. One of the works depicts a self-portrait with his great-grandmother's face superimposed on his own, "creating a ricochet through time and genealogy," according to a press release. The 11-track album will also include a duet Hegerty recorded with Bjork called 'Flétta' as well as other songs that will "create an arresting vision of the world through the artist's eyes."...full text |
Antony and the Johnsons lyrics
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