Antony and the Johnsons
The Crying Light

I know I shouldn't have done it. But I did it and I'm ashamed.

I downloaded "Crying Light" by Antony even before it hit the stores. I did it because purchasing and listening to "Another World" had left me so unsettled and captivated that I couldn't wait until January 20th, the day I'll rush to the first record store to grab a copy with the beautiful cover and art design.

I, who hardly ever download, driven by a fierce and explosive feeling pressed a click, almost unconscious of my vile action. In less than half an hour, the record is ready. I prepare the tissues and press play.

An incredible and transcendent whirlpool sweeps me away, like a sonic tsunami. It's the restless and sorrowful "Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground," which kills me slowly, with its twilight and emotional piano swirls. Around me, absolute darkness, and it's only Antony, the only voice breaking an absurd silence. A lullaby with a heart of gold.

Then comes that jewel with that beautiful and incredible title: "Epilepsy Is Dancing," an absolute masterpiece packed in less than three minutes: I feel like jumping from the depth of my couch and start applauding like a maniac. The voice doubles and overlaps, caressing the soul, with a background of acoustic guitar and a barely hinted piano.

"One Dove" is a haunting absolution shining in a watercolor sunset in a relentless sky. It seems ready to explode at any moment with its soul inclined to a skewed and melancholic jazz, and it does: the piano grows more and more, reminding the emotional passages of the beautiful "For Today I Am A Boy" from the masterpiece "I Am A Bird Now."

"Kiss My Name" diverges significantly from the more conventional Antony. The soaring-hearted transvestite creates a rhythmic and seductive piece, supported by a broken drum and a briskly running piano, under the golden voice of this exceptional man. The result is striking: an orb of angels surrounds me. Heavenly music, which continues with the incredible title track: touching, nocturnal, and dark poetic lyricism. A remarkable musical watercolor with spectral choirs on the horizon.

"Another World" is the beautiful single supported by breath-stealing piano hints and that voice: ever more genuine, ever more heartbreaking. It digs into the human soul. It scrapes to see what's inside. Incredible.

I am absolutely ecstatic when the first notes of this album's artistic peak "Daylight And The Sun" are introduced, hinting at some timid dance steps on tiptoe, to then literally explode into a whirlwind of almost theatrical sounds that embellish a track that was already a masterpiece before it even began.

"Aeon," compared to the previous, has an almost folkloric cut. I may be bold, but this beautiful track recalls some particular passages of the calmer moments of "Get Behind Me Satan" by the White Stripes. A cutting guitar, a voice that fills. A perfect duet that lingers in your mind for hours, without even mistakenly touching the unbreachable border of pop.

"Dust And Water" is dark and hypnotic, so hypnotic as to reveal surprising eclecticism from one of the most interesting male voices in the twenty-first-century music scene. Built on a single note in delay, the song is a fundamental passage leading to the incredible finale "Everglade", the seal of an incredible album: a simple but effective song, supported by dancing strings and miraculous sounds.

"The Crying Light" is the crystalline soul of music, which continues to evolve.

Many say that music is dead, that people like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake & co. have killed it.

No, they've only wounded it, but music has been reborn: it has a new form and it is stronger.

Music survives the elements.

If the new year is judged by the records released in January, 2009 will be an incredible year.

"Now I'm Dancing"