I Cry Glitter is Love!

[dotinthesky]

Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light, Jan 2009
It's taken me just about nine months to finally appreciate the beauty of this album. Maybe I was already over winter when it came out, and there was no space for it in my spring or summer. Now that the fun is past, it resurfaced by accident on my iPod and made me pay attention to my soggy commute through Victoria Park and Regent's Canal. It also helped that I've been feeling kinda down and struggling with insomnia. I come home sometimes from work with a splitting headache and fill up the bathtub. There's no better way to unwind or test an album then soak in the darkness - just one candle and the stereo for company. I feel some of Billie Holiday's soul in Antony. Odd brass sections confuse me into believing the tower block is creaking. The songs play together like a story shared, culminating in the perfect "Aeon". I'm left wanting to hop out and sign up to the newsletter that will get me tickets to his next gig. Then I wonder if he's changing people who listen to him the way some bands have done in the past. Like the Velvet and the Smiths. I think he is. I think he has.

Comments

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

I've seen Antony live about a half dozen times and loved him every time but I've never quite been in that right mood for his recorded output.

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard him (on CD) I had a very negative response. It has taken me years to reach this point, where I actually quite love his music. It also helps that he's such a vocal supporter of gay rights, and seems to mix with the right people in his collaborations. I'd LOVE to see him live.

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

He's really something. I wish I could like his CDs more but I just put them on and can't seem to settle into them. Whereas when I've seen him live, it's like you can't really resist the mood - he just controls the room and you're with him every step of the way.