The Crying Light
| The Crying Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 19, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop | |||
| Length | 39:24 | |||
| Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
| Producer | Anohni | |||
| 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 Crying Light is Antony and the Johnsons' third studio album and the follow-up to the band's widely acclaimed second record, I Am a Bird Now. It was released on January 19, 2009, and preceded by the single "Another World", issued through Secretly Canadian on October 7, 2008. The album peaked in the Billboard European Top 100 at No. 1.
The Crying Light features orchestral arrangements by Anohni and Nico Muhly. Anohni has described its theme 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."