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Antony And The Johnsons - Hope There's Someone
- Thread starter tinytank
- Start date
Flah
New member
When I reviewed it I thought of it as gentle indie pop.
Here's the review:
When you’re navigating the music scene, especially the indie scene, there’s hype and there’s well deserved press. The latter is quite rare and you only come across just a scant few times every year. Antony and the Johnsons' I Am a Bird Now is a fine example of the music press going gonzo over something that actually deserves to be written about with phrases like “best of the year,” and “simply wonderful”. This eclectic mix of light jazz, haunting folk pop, and classic 50/60s revival R&B/soul is one of the best things I’ve heard this young year.
I’ll forgo the bio on Antony, if you’re really interested you can check out his website and piece it together. It’s interesting yes, but the real interest here is the stunning musical achievement that is I Am a Bird Now. Antony’s smokey mid range quiver is the perfect guide that leads you down a path that blends elements you wouldn’t expect on a modern day pop record of such quality. It’s chill inducing, it’s a grand statement of personal art, and above all it’s so goddamn catchy it’s hard not to fall in love with.
The album opens with the amazing ballad Hope There’s Someone that rivals even the great Buckley when it comes to captivating ghostly pop. A lone piano lamentably bangs away with some awesome double tracked vocals creating the “chorus” before it breaks into an almost A Day in the Life like noise break with an organ lying just below the slammed ivory keys. It’s so powerful and damn near tear inducing. The fact that it opens the album and seems rather out of place doing so is a brave decision, almost like Antony is baring himself from the get go without caring if you’re ready for it or not.
The album picks itself up mood wise with the fantastic old school soul of My Lady’s Story and the laid back fun pop of For Today I Am a Boy, both of which are extremely catchy with choruses that will bounce around your head for days afterwards. A great use of cello and Beatles-esque orchestration highlights Man is the Boy which beats anything Damien Rice has put out. What Can I Do? Is a fine ballad that features Rufus Wainright's best vocal moments to date (Other guests include Devenra Banhart, Boy George, Lou Reed, and Julia Yasuda). I wish it was just a smidge longer as it just gets going before it ends. I could spend pages dissecting each fantastic song here but all of I Am a Bird is such a great listen from top to bottom. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard come out of indie pop in a long time and it deserves to be checked out if you exhibit any interest in music that is both gentle yet so powerful. It’s a masterpiece that’s just waiting to be credited with that title.
- Flah
Here's the review:
When you’re navigating the music scene, especially the indie scene, there’s hype and there’s well deserved press. The latter is quite rare and you only come across just a scant few times every year. Antony and the Johnsons' I Am a Bird Now is a fine example of the music press going gonzo over something that actually deserves to be written about with phrases like “best of the year,” and “simply wonderful”. This eclectic mix of light jazz, haunting folk pop, and classic 50/60s revival R&B/soul is one of the best things I’ve heard this young year.
I’ll forgo the bio on Antony, if you’re really interested you can check out his website and piece it together. It’s interesting yes, but the real interest here is the stunning musical achievement that is I Am a Bird Now. Antony’s smokey mid range quiver is the perfect guide that leads you down a path that blends elements you wouldn’t expect on a modern day pop record of such quality. It’s chill inducing, it’s a grand statement of personal art, and above all it’s so goddamn catchy it’s hard not to fall in love with.
The album opens with the amazing ballad Hope There’s Someone that rivals even the great Buckley when it comes to captivating ghostly pop. A lone piano lamentably bangs away with some awesome double tracked vocals creating the “chorus” before it breaks into an almost A Day in the Life like noise break with an organ lying just below the slammed ivory keys. It’s so powerful and damn near tear inducing. The fact that it opens the album and seems rather out of place doing so is a brave decision, almost like Antony is baring himself from the get go without caring if you’re ready for it or not.
The album picks itself up mood wise with the fantastic old school soul of My Lady’s Story and the laid back fun pop of For Today I Am a Boy, both of which are extremely catchy with choruses that will bounce around your head for days afterwards. A great use of cello and Beatles-esque orchestration highlights Man is the Boy which beats anything Damien Rice has put out. What Can I Do? Is a fine ballad that features Rufus Wainright's best vocal moments to date (Other guests include Devenra Banhart, Boy George, Lou Reed, and Julia Yasuda). I wish it was just a smidge longer as it just gets going before it ends. I could spend pages dissecting each fantastic song here but all of I Am a Bird is such a great listen from top to bottom. It’s one of the best things I’ve heard come out of indie pop in a long time and it deserves to be checked out if you exhibit any interest in music that is both gentle yet so powerful. It’s a masterpiece that’s just waiting to be credited with that title.
- Flah
thanks for thatSimilar threads
