The Crying Light

The Crying Light
Studio album by Antony and the Johnsons
Released	January 19, 2009
Genre	Baroque pop
Length	39:24
Label	Secretly Canadian
Producer	Antony
Antony and the Johnsons chronology
I Am a Bird Now (2005) The Crying Light (2009) Swanlights (2010)
Singles from The Crying Light
"Another World" Released: 7 October 2008 "Epilepsy Is Dancing" Released: 26 April 2009 "Aeon" Released: 3 August 2009

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)[2]
The Guardian	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
NME	(8/10)[5]
Pitchfork Media	(8.6/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	[8]
The Sunday Times	[9]
Uncut	[10]

The Crying Light is Antony and the Johnsons' third studio album and the follow-up to the band's widely-acclaimed second LP, I Am a Bird Now. ^[11][12] The album was released on January 19, 2009, and preceded by lead single, "Another World", released through Secretly Canadian on October 7, 2008. The Crying Light features orchestral arrangements by Antony and Nico Muhly.^[13]

The album was released digitally in advance of the release. Some pre-orders contained an alternate version of "Another World". Pre-orders of the physical album from Antony's official website facilitated a full album download, including bonus track "My Lord My Love", a week prior to the official release.

The album peaked in the Billboard European Top 100 at Number 1.

Antony has described the theme of the album as being "about landscape and the future." ^[14]

Ann Powers wrote of The Crying Light for the LA Times online, “It's the most personal environmentalist statement possible, making an unforeseen connection between queer culture's identity politics and the green movement. As music, it's simply exquisite -- more controlled and considered than anything Antony and the Johnsons have done and sure to linger in the minds of listeners." ^[15]

Tours

In anticipation of The Crying Light, Antony and the Johnsons scheduled 7 symphony concerts in 2008, including at the Barbican with the London Symphony Orchestra and at Disney Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. These concerts were conducted by Jim Holmes and Rob Moose, with scores arranged by Nico Muhly.

Antony and the Johnsons toured throughout North America and Europe in support of The Crying Light between February and June 2009.

Antony then went on to present a unique staging of "The Crying Light" in collaboration with the Manchester Camerata (conducted by Rob Moose) at the Manchester Opera House for the 2009 Manchester International Festival. The concert hall was transformed into a crystal cave constructed by Carl Robertshaw and filled with laser effects created by installation artist Chris Levine in collaboration with lighting designer Paul Normandale.

Antony and the Johnsons have gone on to present concerts with symphonies across Europe in Summer 2009, including with the Opera Orchestra of Lyon, the Metropole Orchestra, Roma Sinfonietta and the Montreux Jazz Festival Orchestra.

Artwork

The album's cover artwork features a 1977 photograph of butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno, by Naoya Ikegami. Antony said of the image: "The Crying Light is dedicated to the great dancer Kazuo Ohno. In performance I watched him cast a circle of light upon the stage, and step into that circle, and reveal the dreams and reveries of his heart. He seemed to dance in the eye of something mysterious and creative; with every gesture he embodied the child and the feminine divine. He's kind of like my art parent." ^[16]

A music video for the single "Epilepsy Is Dancing" was produced by the Wachowski brothers and featured Johanna Constantine, SF choreographer Sean Dorsey and the design of painters Tino Rodríguez and Virgo Paraiso.

Track listing

Written by Antony Hegarty, except where noted.

1. "Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground" (Antony & Nick Hegarty) – 4:24
2. "Epilepsy Is Dancing" – 2:42
3. "One Dove" (Antony & Barry Reynolds) – 5:34
4. "Kiss My Name" – 2:48
5. "The Crying Light" – 3:18
6. "Another World" – 4:00
7. "Daylight and the Sun" – 6:21
8. "Aeon" – 4:35
9. "Dust and Water" – 2:50
10. "Everglade" – 2:58

"My Lord My Love" (Secretly Canadian pre-order bonus track) – 3:17

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
European Albums Billboard Top 100[17]	1
Belgian Albums Charts (Flanders)	1
Spanish Albums Chart (Promusicae)[18]	2
Sweden Albums Chart[19]	2
Denmark Albums Chart[19]	3
France Albums Chart[17]	4
Netherlands Albums Chart[19]	4
Norway Albums Chart[19]	4
Swiss Albums Chart[19]	7
Italian Albums Chart[19]	9
German Albums Chart	15
UK Album Chart[20]	18
Finnish Albums Chart[20]	23
Australian Albums Chart[19]	33
U.S. Billboard 200[21]	65

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
3. ^ The Guardian review
4. ^ Los Angeles Times review
5. ^ NME review
6. ^ Pitchfork Media review
7. ^ Rolling Stone review
8. ^ Spin review
9. ^ The Sunday Times review
10. ^ Uncut review
11. ^ Ayers, Michael D. (January 13, 2009). Antony Hegarty, Transformer. Village Voice. Retrieved on January 17, 2009.
12. ^ Baltin, Steven (January 15, 2009). Antony Is Drawn Toward the 'Light'. Spinner. Retrieved on January 17, 2009.
13. ^ Wood, Mikael (2009-01-20). "Review: Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light". Boston Phoenix. http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/75338-CRYING-LIGHT/ 
14. ^ Exclaim! News: New Antony and the Johnsons Album out in September
15. ^ "Pop & Hiss". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 2010. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/antony_and_the_johnsons/. 
16. ^ http://antonyandthejohnsons.com/news/news.html
17. ^ ^{a b} [1]
18. ^ [2]
19. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} [3]
20. ^ ^{a b} Suomen virallinen lista
21. ^ Billboard.com

Preceded by "Only by the Night" by Kings of Leon

Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart number-one album January 31, 2009 (1 week)

Succeeded by "Working on a Dream" by Bruce Springsteen