The Crying Light
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. 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 Anohni and Nico Muhly.
| The Crying Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 19, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop | |||
| Length | 39:24 | |||
| Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
| Producer | Antony | |||
| Antony and the Johnsons chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Crying Light | ||||
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| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.1/10 |
| Metacritic | 80/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The A.V. Club | A |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| The Guardian | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Pitchfork | 8.6/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | |
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 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."