Antony & The Johnson’s “Thank You For Your Love” [VIDEO]
Last year, Antony and The Johnsons released their first full-length album since the Mercury Prize-winning, I Am A Bird Now, 4 years earlier. The Crying Light proved to be another minor-masterpiece, cementing Antony Hegarty‘ group as an important musical force, deserving of our continued attention into the new decade. It even yielded some surprising success on a commercial level, reaching the number one spot on the Billboard European Top 100. The album release was definitely worth the wait and, as someone who caught him during the supporting tour, Hegarty‘s abilities as a live performer only continue to increase. Hopes are reasonably high for their next album, but, this time around, the anticipation isn’t taking nearly as long to quell. In the following months, an EP, LP, and even an art book are slated to be released by the group. There’s a lot on the horizon, but, for now, we have our first sample of what’s to come, in the form of a new video.
Prior to The Crying Light hitting the metaphorical shelves, it was preceded by the 5-song EP, Another World. Along with the lead off single/title track, the EP also featured 4 additional songs that didn’t appear on The Crying Light. For the upcoming release, Swanlights, Hegarty and crew have opted to adopt that concept yet again. Today marks the UK and European release date for the 5-song, Thank You For Your Love EP [Rough Trade] with the official North American release coming tomorrow (Aug. 24th) through Secretly Canadian. As could be expected, the song “Thank You For Your Love“, which appears on this EP, is also the lead off single for Swanlights. Those familiar with Antony‘s early years, know that he moved to Manhattan in 1990 to study experimental theatre at NYU. This move resulted in Hegarty‘s formation and involvement with his Blacklips theatre collective, which ultimately spawned a good deal of his early musical material with the Johnsons. The following video for “Thank You For Your Love” is comprised of super 8 footage from that period of Antony‘s life when he first arrived to the city.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Xdm5yS6PY[/youtube]
Swanlights is slated to be released on October 11 in the UK and Europe and October 12 in North America.
Also on October 12, Abrams Image will be releasing a 144 page accompanying hardcover book, which will showcase Antony‘s paintings, photography, collages, and writing, along with the CD.
“The album is now available for pre-order including bundles consisting of the full length CD and EP, vinyl LP and EP, and book with CD and EP. Those who purchase the bundles will instantly receive an advance download of the EP. The pre-order is up at www.swanlights.com.
The album only version of “Swanlights” will also include the song “Flétta”, a duet with Björk. The album and book are a continuation of Antony’s work exploring his connection to the natural world.“