The Crying Light - Antony & The Johnsons

A Mercury-Prize winning act from the United Kingdom, Antony & The Johnsons released their third album The Crying Light to universal critical acclaim in January. I heard this album in an old British mansion at a hill station over five days, in the cold mornings, the sunny afternoons and the dark nights. And like many great albums do, it became a soundtrack to a journey, a life.

The album cover features an image of the famed butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno, by Naoya Ikegami. Ohno, whose presence itself is called an "artistic fact" provides a beautiful tapestry over which the music of the album is written. Yet, the album makes for a compelling musical journey independently for everyone who listens to it.

The album features sparse string and piano arrangements; but do not mistake sparse for light. Often, the themes of the songs and the flow of the music renders each songs a tremendous gravitas reminiscent of grand tragedies. The major theme of the album is the journey between life and death, and the interludes that separate each - light and dark, disease, and love.

One of the standout tracks on the album, "Epilepsy is Dancing" is a touching and elegiac portrayal of the effects of epilepsy. The music resists being mournful or sad, and is instead imbibed with a buoyant joy where epilepsy is a beautiful form of expression itself, a journey through pain; which gradually smothers out and the person is free again. Epilepsy is dancing/ She's the Christ now departing/ And I'm finding my rhythm / As I twist in the snow. During moments in the song, Hegarty's voice shivers along with the music, rendering into form the often violent and frightening experience a seizure can be.

There are songs in any album one uses to welcome a new listener- unfamiliar with the artist, serving as an introduction to the world the artist has created, his or her musical expression. I recommend listeners unfamiliar with Antony and the Johnson's music- which can often seem foreign, and disorienting - to start with one of the best tracks on the album- "Daylight & The Sun". The song has several of the qualities that make the artist a master of his work. It starts with a foreboding half-a-minute of mournful violin, which is only torn apart by Hegarty's tremulous wail. Now I cry for Daylight/ Daylight and the Sun. In this moment, a clarity surrounds the listener as he is enveloped in the soothing and plaintive voice, buttressed by a stern yet beautiful piano arrangement. One realises soon how beautifully Hegarty tones his voice to the music, rising with the music, and grandly falling to earth the next moment. The stunning lyrics in the song, just add to the experience.

Light and Dark play an important part in the album- right from the black and white cover where Ohno bathes in a cloud of light, to "Daylight and the Sun" or the title song. "The Crying Light" features a spooky 10 second string-arrangement immediately replaced by a calm piano. Here, Hegarty's voice replaces the tension of the preceding strings while he sings over the sparse music for the next three minutes. The meaning of the title is rendered then, the crying visceral light which hides and reveals our pains, our wounds.

Interludes between life and death form the theme of "Another World" - and the song is understandably muted and reflective. I need another world/ This one's nearly gone. Ohno, now 102, could just as well be dancing to the song in his head, now wheelchair-bound; or it could be just as well you and me. The shrill music towards the end almost beckons the listener to this "another world".

'Everglade', the closing song on the album features a comparatively lush music arrangement, with flutes, pianos, and strings caressing each croon of Hegarty. Hegarty co-arranged the song with classical composer Nico Muhly, and the song is a perfect bookend to the album; almost like the song for entering paradise, after the 40 minutes Antony and the Johnsons take to prepare us for the journey. A song trembling under the weight of pathos, yet rejuvenated with new hope and dreams.

Each song on The Crying Light needs patient listening, while you uncover the hidden stories, the music scampering beneath a layer of resonant voice, and ultimately flow along with the gorgeous work that Antony and The Johnsons has created. The music may seem alien, the voice too sprightly sometimes, but once you let it work its charm- the album is one that stays with you for years.

Daylight and the Sun by The Crying Light