Beautiful
The special edition of this record looks set to be an impressive collectors piece; the CD will come with an 144 page hard-back book with paintings, photographs, collages and writing by Antony, both the album and book continue his preoccupation with the natural world, for us mere mortals (and journalists) with just the music at our disposal don't worry, the album itself is distracting enough to hold your attention.
As we've come to expect from Antony And The Johnsons, the album contains moments of real beauty and so much emotional clout that it can literally stop you in your tracks. Like the previous album however it is not as immediate and easy to digest as the breakthrough album "I Am A Bird Now". Opening with the superb 'Everything Is New' the album gets off to a great start; Antony's quavering and soulful vocal delivery causing all manner of spine tingling and skin prickling moments, gently plucked strings and a lovely piano sound in the background build to peaks. 'The Great White Ocean' is a contrast; minimal guitar and vocal track (you can just make out strings humming away in the background), very touching.
The album has a huge emotional range; strings and piano along with other additional sounds and instruments including of course Antony's vocals give a very direct punch, often layered together and building to rushes of noise, 'Ghost' and 'I'm In love' are great examples, the later sees Antony coming out of his shell vocally, using it like another one of those layered instruments. Then there are those more tender; gentle tracks where things are quite sparse and stripped down, leaving the lyrics space to sink in and coming at you from another angle.
There are many stand out moments, as well as those previously mentioned we have 'Swanlights' a track with echoes, soulful vocals, distortion and a dreamy tone, and of course there is 'Flétta' a piano led track which is also a duet with Björk, it is genuinely beautiful; another great album, fans should not be disappointed.