''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 ''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 i ...

''. The album was released on 19 January 2009, and preceded by lead single, " Another World", released through

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

on 7 October 2008. ''The Crying Light'' features orchestral arrangements by Anohni and

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

. 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." 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 Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...

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."

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 Rob Moose (born 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, conductor, and orchestrator. He primarily plays the violin, viola, and guitar. Early life and education Moose was born in 1982. He was raised in Windsor, Connect ...

, 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. Anohni 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 Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...

. The concert hall was transformed into a crystal cave constructed by Carl Robertshaw and filled with laser effects created by installation artist

Chris Levine Chris Levine (born 1960) is a UK-based artist, working in the field of light art. Chris Levine is a light artist with a multi-disciplinary approach that harnesses a diverse array of technology with the intention of revealing the ways in which l ...

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 is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founde ...

dancer

Kazuo Ohno was a Japanese dancer who became a guru and inspirational figure in the dance form known as Butoh. He is the author of several books on Butoh, including ''The Palace Soars through the Sky'', ''Dessin'', ''Words of Workshop'', and ''Food for the ...

, by Naoya Ikegami. Anohni 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." A music video for the single "Epilepsy Is Dancing" was produced by

The Wachowskis Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965, formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born December 29, 1967, formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans ...

and featured Johanna Constantine, SF choreographer Sean Dorsey and the design of painters

Tino Rodríguez Tino Rodríguez is a Mexican-American painter. Born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Rodriguez was influenced by the symbolism and themes evident in the Catholic churches of his youth. His work was also influenced by his absorption of fairy tal ...

and Virgo Paraiso.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In 2009, the album was awarded a gold certification from the

Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...

, denoting sales in excess of 100,000 copies across Europe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crying Light, The Antony and the Johnsons albums 2009 albums Secretly Canadian albums