1. Douglas Wieselman
2. Antony Hegarty

Seated in a semi-swanky London hotel bar, the man opposite is a benign and playful presence, joshing that he'd like a gin and tonic (despite it being 11.30am), spying Cameron Diaz on the front of InStyle magazine and crying, 'Look, they've put me on the cover!' and trying to convince the Guide that he's planning a special outdoor show hung from balloons.

However, there are more serious issues on his mind. Antony's new album The Crying Light, the follow-up to 2004's Mercury Prize-winning, half-a-million-selling I Am A Bird Now, sees his gaze turn outwards from issues of gender confusion to meditations on his relationship with nature. Featuring orchestral arrangements by Nico Muhly and even guitar on a couple of tracks ('I'm slowly graduating from my fear and loathing of it,' he jokes), songs such as Everglade imagine him 'in this beautiful, animist landscape where the leaves are gazing at me and the water is whispering to me and I'm feeling connected to the world – and yet there's something in my mind that's still broken.' Then there's the threat of impending environmental catastrophe, bleakly imagined in Another World. Antony says his new hero is Joan Pick, interviewed in the Guardian a few months ago as 'the woman with the tiny carbon footprint', who eats raw food, buys nothing except new trainers and hasn't driven a car since 1973.

All the great songs and lyrics from the 'Antony and the Johnsons' album ont he Web's largest and most authoritative lyrics resource.

The music and themes may have changed but his voice is still the androgynous blend of gospel, art-rock and soul that's bewitched collaborators as diverse as Hercules And Love Affair and the London Symphony Orchestra, who played two extraordinary Barbican concerts with him last year at which Antony wore a Roman toga ('It was actually a sandwich wrap') and covered Beyoncé's Crazy In Love, because 'she's gorgeous'.

Douglas Wieselman

Hercules gave him a chart hit with Blind, though his guest vocal was recorded in 2003, before he became famous. He'd like to make more dance music. 'The challenge of getting people to dance is such a nice reason to sing,' he says. 'It's a hoot.' Not that there are any floorfillers on The Crying Light: 'I don't think it quite fits under this moniker. If it's miserable enough it makes its way on to my record.'

He's joking, of course. Antony doesn't regard his music as miserable and says, 'I do recommend that anyone that sees my records as miserable stops listening to them immediately, because they're not helping.' He's horrified that Hope There's Someone is purportedly popular at funerals. 'Oh God, that sounds like a nightmare. It's a song for the living, not a tribute to the dead.'

He says his new lyrical desire to engage with the world at large is a consequence of him feeling 'more confident as a transgender person'. By transgender, he means 'just people who are naturally gender variant. For some of us it exhibits very young, so by the time they're five some boys are pretending to shave and some boys are,' he laughs, 'doing what they do. Being transgender is the only minority in which 99% of the time you manifest against the wishes of your family. So it's obviously a very strong impulse, because in this heterosexist society there's not a lot of room for breaking rank.'

His Catholic upbringing in Chichester, Sussex made him feel 'that I was an alien from another dimension'. Formative experiences included watching Hammer horror films aged six as his babysitter passed him cigarettes, and of course Top Of The Pops: 'I remember being seven and watching Ian Dury & The Blockheads and Lena Lovich. That's so ravishing, to be that young and see subculture.' Then there were his trips to visit his grandmother in London, when 'we'd always drive down Kings Road at my insistence: 'Ooh look, there's someone with blue hair!' It was literally like going to a safari. If my poor father had realised what he was prepping me for he would never have done it.'

The family moved around a lot, living in Amsterdam then Santa Cruz. His teachers weren't impressed with his singing: 'In second grade I was told, 'He loves music, if only his prowess matched his enthusiasm.' He loved pop stars like Boy George, who sang with him years later on You Are My Sister from I Am A Bird Now, and to whom he's remained close. 'We advise each other on various matters,' says Antony. 'George is so major. I'm surprised they didn't launch nuclear weapons when he sang Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? on Top Of The Pops. It was the triumph of an invincible vulnerability, and that is so typical of a trans kid. He's been through hell, obviously, but all you have to do is look in his eyes and he's incredible.'

By 1990, having failed to get into London's Royal College of Art, Antony got accepted at New York University. Though he regarded himself as a performance artist in the lineage of Hot Peaches or the Cockettes, he started singing at clubs like the Pyramid and the Limelight: 'I would make back-up tapes with a four-track, and that's how I wrote a lot of the songs on the first album.'

Antony Hegarty

Antony graduated from playing nightclubs to putting on plays in more conventional spaces with his new theatre group the Johnsons. By the middle of the decade, however, 'it became clear that there wasn't any support for that kind of work. Also I'd been waiting for someone to discover me, and it didn't happen. I got this one grant and I thought, 'This is my ticket out – I'm gonna make an album.'

The eponymous debut Antony And The Johnsons album was recorded in a day in 1997, eventually reaching David Tibet, of avant gardists Current 93, who released it on his own label in 2000. The next breakthrough came when Lou Reed's producer invited him to sing backing vocals on Reed's 2003 album The Raven. 'Lou's a lionhearted guy,' says Antony of the irascible legend, 'but there was also a huge cultural shift that had happened during 2002 to 2005 that had made it possible for someone like me to come forward. A new generation of people like Devendra Banhart opened doors in youth culture that were more dreamy, more flexible. Their idea was, 'Let's just build a garden and feel a sense of joy.' By the time Banhart had made Antony's The Lake the final track on his influential 2004 'freak folk' compilation The Golden Apples Of The Sun, a receptive audience was ready for him. Yet it was a 1980s Scottish indie star whom he believes truly paved the way.

'Elizabeth Fraser is the secret mother of the whole thing,' he says. 'The last Cocteau Twins record in 1996 was an EP called Twinlights and its last words were 'I still care about this planet, I still feel connected to nature and to my dreams for myself, I have my friends, my family, I have myself, I still have me.' And when I heard that I cried so much and changed my whole approach. I thought, 'OK, that's the most revolutionary thing a person could do – to hope.' That's how culture works. There's a harbinger 10 years earlier, then a whole crop comes up 10 years later.'

Right now Antony's hopes, along with everyone else's, are invested in Barack Obama. 'Everyone makes such a fuss about Obama's race, but we've had plenty of African American leaders in positions of great power,' Antony points out. 'The difference is that Obama is a charismatic liberal with a moral authority. He introduced the spectre of hope, which no one's dared to do since the assassinations of the late-60s. There's so much that needs to be done it's almost inconceivable, the changes that we need to embrace to create a sustainable world. That's all that really matters. All the fuss about everything else is just going to be nothing but hum in 100 years.'

A beacon of intelligence and imagination in a drab music scene, it's tempting to conclude that Antony may well be the last of the great pop stars who rose from the subculture to weird out the mainstream. Yet the man himself is having none of it: 'People aren't that different from generation to generation. We're basically the same old sludge reincarnated over and over again. Every generation has all the colours – it never stops.' It's just that Antony's colours are that bit bolder than everyone else's, now with a welcome preponderance of green.

• The Crying Light is out on Jan 19

I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize.^[2] As of September 2011, UK sales stood at 220,000 copies.^[3]

The album features guest appearances by Rufus Wainwright ('What Can I Do?'), Devendra Banhart, Joan Wasser and by lead singer Anohni's childhood heroes Boy George and Lou Reed.^[4] The cover is a photograph by Peter Hujar of Warhol SuperstarCandy Darling on her deathbed (aptly titled 'Candy Darling on Her Deathbed').^[5]

• 3Personnel
• 4Charts

Reception[edit]

I Am a Bird Now received very positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 88 out of 100, indicating 'universal acclaim.'^[6]

Drowned in Sound's Anthony Gibbons gave the album a score of 10/10, writing 'It's not an exaggeration. This isn't hype. I Am A Bird Now is a beautiful, emotive, glorious, and sometimes sinister album that will top many a critic's list come the end-of-year polls, and justifiably so.'^[17]Tiny Mix Tapes also gave the album a perfect score, writing 'This music grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. It feels timeless and gorgeous and bigger than life. It may not be 'soul' in the strict, music appreciation 101 sense, but it could make even the most jaded atheist approach a metaphysical regard... I'd put on my critic's cap and dive into scrutiny, but I am too enraptured by this artist's music.'^[18]Pitchfork's Brandon Stosuy praised the vocals, writing 'The ultimate draw is Antony's voice, and within the first two seconds of the album, it should be very clear to even the most unaware newbies that Antony has an amazing Nina Simone/Brian Ferry [sic]/Jimmy Scottvibrato, a multi-octave siren that would sound painfully lovely no matter what he was saying.'^[13]

The album has appeared on several end of year lists. Mojo named I Am a Bird Now the best album of 2005.^[19]Pitchfork ranked the album #5 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2005.^[20] On the same website, the track 'Hope There's Someone' was ranked #28 on their list of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000s and was selected as 2005's best single.^[21][22]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks written by Anohni.

Personnel[edit]

The following people contributed to I Am a Bird Now:^[4][5]

Antony and the Johnsons[edit]

• Anohni – organ, piano, vocals
• Julia Kent – cello
• Todd Cohen aka Tahrah Cohen – drums
• Jeff Langston – bass
• Maxim Moston – violin
• Doug Wieselman – saxophone

Additional personnel[edit]

• Devendra Banhart – guitar (Track 5), vocals (Track 8)
• Steve Bernstein – horn
• John Bollinger - drums (Track 5)
• Keith Bonner - flute
• Boy George – vocals (Track 5)
• Parker Kindred - drums (Track 7)
• Danielle Farina - viola (Tracks 2,9)
• Jason Hart – piano (Track 6)
• Rainy Orteca - bass (Track 7)
• Lou Reed – guitar and vocals (Track 7)
• Paul Shapiro – horn
• Rufus Wainwright – vocals (Track 6)
• Joan Wasser – viola
• Julia Yasuda - Morse Code, vocals (Track 9)
• Emery Dobyns - Engineer and mixer.

Charts[edit]

Album[edit]

Singles[edit]

Certifications and sales[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'100 Best Albums of the 2000s'. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
2. ^Antony & The Johnsons album sales soar. NME. 13 September 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
3. ^'Mercury Prize Winners - The Guardian Google spreadsheet'. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
4. ^ ^abAntony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now. Discogs. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
5. ^ ^abI Am a Bird Now - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
6. ^ ^ab'Reviews for I Am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons'. Metacritic. Retrieved July 3, 2011.
7. ^Monger, James Christopher. 'I Am a Bird Now – Antony and the Johnsons'. AllMusic. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
8. ^Feliciano, Kristina (February 4, 2005). 'Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now'. Entertainment Weekly: 133.
9. ^Clarke, Betty (March 11, 2005). 'CD: Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now'. The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
10. ^Cromelin, Richard (March 20, 2005). 'It's a compelling cabaret, old chum'. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
11. ^'Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now'. Mojo (137): 86. April 2005.
12. ^'Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now'. NME: 58. March 12, 2005.
13. ^ ^abStosuy, Brandon (February 10, 2005). 'Antony and the Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now'. Pitchfork. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
14. ^Fricke, David (February 10, 2005). 'I'm A Bird Now: Antony and the Johnsons'. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 8, 2009. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
15. ^'Breakdown'. Spin. 21 (3): 92. March 2005. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
16. ^Christgau, Robert (January 10, 2006). 'Consumer Guide: Extraordinary Machines'. The Village Voice. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
17. ^Gibbons, Anthony (May 31, 2005). 'Album Review: Antony And The Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now'. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
18. ^Willcoma (December 14, 2006). 'Antony & The Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now'. Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
19. ^Mojo End Of year Lists. Rocklist.net. Retrieved 3 July 2011
20. ^Pitchfork Staff. Top 50 Albums of 2005. Pitchfork. 31 December 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
21. ^Pitchfork Staff. The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 50-21. Pitchfork. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
22. ^Pitchfork Staff. Top 50 Singles of 2005. Pitchfork. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 3 July 2011
23. ^ ^ab'ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS - The Official Charts Company'. The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 24 December 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2011.Cite uses deprecated parameter deadurl= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: publisher= (help)
24. ^ ^abcdefg'Antony And the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now - australiancharts.com'. australian-charts.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
25. ^'IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011' (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
26. ^'Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2007'(PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
27. ^'British album certifications – Antony and the Johnsons – I am a bird now'. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 December 2018.Select albums in the Format field.Select Gold in the Certification field.Type I am a bird now in the 'Search BPI Awards' field and then press Enter.
28. ^Wilson, Jen (12 November 2008). 'Antony And The Johnsons Returns With New Album'. Billboard. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
29. ^'Antony and the Johnson's: Let it Come Down'. Magnet Magazine. Retrieved 17 December 2018.

External links[edit]

• I Am A Bird Now _{(1 Feb 2005, Secretly Canadian)} at Discogs
• I Am A Bird Now statistics and tagging at Last.FM
• I Am A Bird Now press release at Secretly Canadian