Antony And The Johnsons

Is Antony Hegarty the weirdest musician of any significant renown these days? He’s certainly a strong contender. With a voice that warbles between Nina Simone and Scott Walker, Antony has grown surprisingly big since first playing little shows in downtown NYC. Lou Reed took him under his wing in 2003 for his The Raven project, whose themes—death, identity crisis, collaborating with Lou Reed—Antony embraced for his 2005 Mercury Prize-winning I Am A Bird Now. His new Swanlights ponders blissfully on those similar themes—“The Spirit Was Gone” depicts the moment a soul leaves the body—and behind his bewitching voice, Antony sounds positively enlivened by it, resulting in his loosest, most rapturous album yet.

Updated 10/21/2010