In Antony's spotlight

A pale woman dressed in black with wine-red lips walks down a bleak city street before she stops to watch a deer. Once stopped, her eyes roll into the back of her head as she collapses, while Antony Hegarty’s soaring vocals envelope the setting as colorful effervescent butterflies. This is a scene from the “Epilepsy Is Dancing” music video, the first single on Antony and The Johnsons’ new album “The Crying Light.”

In the past, Hegarty collaborated with big names: statesman of rock Lou Reed, psych-rocker Devendra Banhart, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright and critically acclaimed Björk. These star-studded duets feature intricate production and a busier sound, highlighting instrumentals as well as lyrics.
 
“The Crying Light” marks a departure from this style and instead focuses solely on Antony’s swooning vocals and lamenting lyrics.

Backed by simple orchestrations and melodies on the piano, Hegarty’s tremulous vocals convey dire yet accessible lyrics documenting his thoughts on the painful and eventful beginnings and ends of life.

As if tackling Oedipus’ riddle, Hegarty evokes primal vistas of conception, ailment and death.

Always doting on the dark, “The Crying Light” focuses on an unreliable and preoccupied narrator.

In “Kiss My Name,” Hegarty struggles to narrate pleas for sanity, an identity and his mother: “Oh mama kiss my name/I am trying to be sane.”

Only accented by a few instruments, Hegarty’s vocals and lyrics take on the burden of supporting the album.

And he is more than up to the challenge.

Hegarty’s warbling words melt together like the warm cello used to close “Everglade” and ”Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground.” However, at other times, Hegarty’s prominent, anthemic repetition in “Epilepsy Is Dancing” is downright indie-pop.

Antony & The Johnsons’ “The Crying Light” is analogous to Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” – a catchier, more accessible indie-pop album.
And as such, “The Crying Light” is already an early contender for best album of the year.