Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
At the start of last year I discovered the raw beauty of the sisters Cocorosie. Their startling record, La Maison De Mon Reve, had me longing for French fields packed with sunflowers. The ones I so often enjoyed while gazing out of the car window when on holidays as a kid. Somewhen last year the opportunity to interview them came up and I gladly took it. By phone but still, not only are the sisters pretty, their music raises some interesting questions that could spawn even more interesting answers. A nice conversation it was but funnily enough the two things that I remember most of that talk is Bianca's mention of Antony & The Johnsons when I asked her what she was excited about musically.
After I hung up the phone I did a Google search for Antony & The Johnsons. Not much later I found out about his selftitled debut, originally released on Current 93's Durtro label in 2000. It was gonna be released worldwide through Secretly Canadian. The intensity of that album slapped me right in the face. I can take some melodrama and I am fairly charmed by singers with typical voices. Antony's voice was something entirely else though. By the end of 2004 I got a chance to see Cocorosie at Paradiso. Not only that, the girls brought Antony with them. And not only that, I even got the opportunity to interview them, both. I didn't know what to expect but to find out this theatrical and melodramatic performer was very charming and full of jokes wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The show was sparse, just him, his piano and his amazing voice. It cut through the hearts of the dozens of goths that were attracted to Antony through his friendship with David Tibet. Sierra 'Cocorosie' Casady eventually joined him on stage for a mesmerizing duet.
After the gig he chatted with some fans for as long as they would like to. The guy is a friend to all who gives him attention. And he likes the attention, that's what he lives for when the day is done. After the fans were gone we sat down in the bunkers of Paradiso, it was a nice chat although the presence of Bianca Casady made him less serious and slightly too witty.
Now there's I Am A Bird Now and Antony is ready to spread his wings to reach a bigger (and brighter) audience. The album is less orchestrated than his debut but there's still a lot of soothing sounds that will tickle your belly. At his best the man becomes one with his pianoplay, intense, haunting and mysterious at times. The climax in the middle of 'Hope There's Someone' illustrates that as he lifts his voice over mountains snowed with brooding falsetto's. His tenor vocals hit the highest notes at times and when caught up in his own tales he's relentless and won't back down for anyone. Not even for his idol and likeminded spirit Boy George or his guiding light and great friend Lou Reed.
He invites both to play a tune with him on I Am A Bird Now but he always manages to surpass them with his engaging vocal style.
Boy George turns up in the appropriately titled 'You Are My Sister', his vocals are much more subtle than Antony's, he seemingly keeps him self low key and let's Antony shine in a world they both share. The music here is kept to minimal pianoplay, chambermusic if you will although that tag doesn't come close to covering the emotional depths of the song.
Reed returns Antony's favour, Antony appeared on Reed's Raven album, in 'Fistful Of Love'. A swirling and lightly jazzy singsong, Lou Reed takes care of the spoken intro as Antony unwinds and the songs hits new highs with soaring trumpetplay. This track stands out in a way that it sounds more positive and even festive. A beautiful highlight which shows Antony at his best is 'Man Is The Baby'. A mysterious piece that takes place in the twilight zone of the man's mixed up soul. The pianoplay is haunting and perfectly in tune with Antony's brooding vocals. Same goes for 'Spiralling' that twists and turns over magic violinplay and playful piano.
What goes on in Antony's mind is our guess but the way he showcases his doubts and feelings on I Am A Bird Now are revealing mixed up emotions. Judging from the way I've seen him behave on stage and in person I'd say he's a terrific actor who is able to pull off a Waitslike play on his albums and in his shows. Nevertheless, his stories and tales are closer to most of us than you'd imagine and in Antony's case, he's living his songs everyday. No matter how forceful an actor he seems, he draws on experience and his heart can be found at the core of every single song.
In essence, this is nowhere near indie music, this is Soul Music. Antony could sit down at the dock of the bay together with one of his heroes, he'd ashamed to be there but Otis would be proud as hell.
After I hung up the phone I did a Google search for Antony & The Johnsons. Not much later I found out about his selftitled debut, originally released on Current 93's Durtro label in 2000. It was gonna be released worldwide through Secretly Canadian. The intensity of that album slapped me right in the face. I can take some melodrama and I am fairly charmed by singers with typical voices. Antony's voice was something entirely else though. By the end of 2004 I got a chance to see Cocorosie at Paradiso. Not only that, the girls brought Antony with them. And not only that, I even got the opportunity to interview them, both. I didn't know what to expect but to find out this theatrical and melodramatic performer was very charming and full of jokes wasn't exactly what I had in mind. The show was sparse, just him, his piano and his amazing voice. It cut through the hearts of the dozens of goths that were attracted to Antony through his friendship with David Tibet. Sierra 'Cocorosie' Casady eventually joined him on stage for a mesmerizing duet.
After the gig he chatted with some fans for as long as they would like to. The guy is a friend to all who gives him attention. And he likes the attention, that's what he lives for when the day is done. After the fans were gone we sat down in the bunkers of Paradiso, it was a nice chat although the presence of Bianca Casady made him less serious and slightly too witty.
Now there's I Am A Bird Now and Antony is ready to spread his wings to reach a bigger (and brighter) audience. The album is less orchestrated than his debut but there's still a lot of soothing sounds that will tickle your belly. At his best the man becomes one with his pianoplay, intense, haunting and mysterious at times. The climax in the middle of 'Hope There's Someone' illustrates that as he lifts his voice over mountains snowed with brooding falsetto's. His tenor vocals hit the highest notes at times and when caught up in his own tales he's relentless and won't back down for anyone. Not even for his idol and likeminded spirit Boy George or his guiding light and great friend Lou Reed.
He invites both to play a tune with him on I Am A Bird Now but he always manages to surpass them with his engaging vocal style.
Boy George turns up in the appropriately titled 'You Are My Sister', his vocals are much more subtle than Antony's, he seemingly keeps him self low key and let's Antony shine in a world they both share. The music here is kept to minimal pianoplay, chambermusic if you will although that tag doesn't come close to covering the emotional depths of the song.
Reed returns Antony's favour, Antony appeared on Reed's Raven album, in 'Fistful Of Love'. A swirling and lightly jazzy singsong, Lou Reed takes care of the spoken intro as Antony unwinds and the songs hits new highs with soaring trumpetplay. This track stands out in a way that it sounds more positive and even festive. A beautiful highlight which shows Antony at his best is 'Man Is The Baby'. A mysterious piece that takes place in the twilight zone of the man's mixed up soul. The pianoplay is haunting and perfectly in tune with Antony's brooding vocals. Same goes for 'Spiralling' that twists and turns over magic violinplay and playful piano.
What goes on in Antony's mind is our guess but the way he showcases his doubts and feelings on I Am A Bird Now are revealing mixed up emotions. Judging from the way I've seen him behave on stage and in person I'd say he's a terrific actor who is able to pull off a Waitslike play on his albums and in his shows. Nevertheless, his stories and tales are closer to most of us than you'd imagine and in Antony's case, he's living his songs everyday. No matter how forceful an actor he seems, he draws on experience and his heart can be found at the core of every single song.
In essence, this is nowhere near indie music, this is Soul Music. Antony could sit down at the dock of the bay together with one of his heroes, he'd ashamed to be there but Otis would be proud as hell.
posted by rizzx at 8:32 PM
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