Warm Your January With Antony

This review is really a chance to 'pay it forward' with blogged recommendations.  I first heard of Antony and The Johnsons in 2005 when his absolutely amazing I Am A Bird Now was in the top 5 on Pitchfork's best albums of the year list.  From first listen, I knew I was listening to something special.  It was one of those albums that you can literally remember where you were the first time you heard it.  For me, it was in my home office while cleaning the closet.  Isn't it amazing that fantastic music can make a mundane activity like that so memorable.  

The first thing that strikes you is the voice.  It's so unique, and truly a gift.  The androgyny to the sound and lyrics take you to a world that is both completely real, but also a fantasy.  As I've spent more time with Bird, I've more clearly seen the parallels to all my favorite Lou Reed songs.  The ethereal qualities of Stephanie Says to dry emotional power of Perfect Day, Antony is the closest my ears have heard that bliss.

And the new album, The Crying Light, is the next chapter.  It's topics are less steeped in identity, and more drenched in mortality.  In Another World, Antony speaks of a perfect heaven, but reflects on what will be lost by going there.  This begs the question that if you will loose all of what you have in this life, how can Heaven truly be Heaven?

Aeon is the story of a son and the promise of redemption for a father through the son's actions.  I'm a sucker for father/son stories right now.  And Antony's voice soars with a power that he has reserved throughout the album.  It's a gospel barn-burner as only he can sing it.

I can't think of a better record to come out the coldest weeks of the year.  Let the snow and ice fall so we all can take a few moments to just listen and contemplate what only wonderful art can make us feel.

The Crying Light - Antony And ...