The black-and-white image of legendary Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno that adorns the cover of The Crying Light, the third full-length by Antony and the Johnsons, seems to offer a view of a being enveloped in both ecstasy and agony -- or does it? The songs contained herein offer something else: a glimpse of a universe beyond the pale of vision, seen only by the individual experiencing it. Anohni recorded and considered 25 songs for inclusion on The Crying Light before settling on ten. The Johnsons are the inimitable cellist Julia Kent, Thomas Bartlett, Maxim Moston, Rob Moose, Jeff Langston, Parker Kindred, Doug Wieselman, and Will Holshouser. The additional orchestra includes Greg Cohen, Suzy Perelman, Tim Albright, and Lisa Albrecht, to name a few. Anohni and composer Nico Muhly did the string arrangements. The Crying Light preoccupies itself with very different concerns than either of its predecessors. Whereas the material on I Am a Bird Now focused on sadness -- grasped and projected -- and in some cases real redemption, these songs look at a larger universe as reflected in the mirror of the individual. The natural world, the vast landscape of interconnectivity with all things, seems to be the primary focus on which the individual protagonists focus their gazes. That doesn't mean that the viewpoint of the singer is necessarily more optimistic. If anything, the truth offered here (and there is plenty of it) is acceptance. Musically, the softness and restrained textural lushness -- always propelled by Anohni's intimate, mysterious, exploring piano is highlighted by her voice that bears the traces of every heartbreak ever confessed, every quiet yet desperate hope ever held, and each prayer whispered to an unknown and unknowable God.

1		Her Eyes Are Underneath the Ground
2		Epilepsy Is Dancing
3		One Dove
4		Kiss My Name
5		The Crying Light
6		Another World
7		Daylight and the Sun
8		Aeon
9		Dust and Water
10		Everglade