This is a reissue of Antonys 1998 debut album, in anticipation of his forthcoming follow-up featuring his friends and fans such as Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, and Devendra Banhart. Its hard to imagine this music existing in a pre-9/11 NYC, with its near-sobbing operatic torch songs about "the atrocities of history, regenerative limbs, rivers of sorrow and the rapture (the concept, not the band, you hipster jackass!). Hearing it now, Antonys tremulous tenor and cello-laden piano ballads is a soundtrack to sorrow, a healing, hopeful voice that comforts rather than wallows. Its the sound of the smoke clearing, the weight being lifted, the confusion remaining yet optimism prevailing.
(Secretly Canadian)Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
BY Michael BarclayPublished Nov 1, 2004