Cut the World

Recorded live last Autumn in Copenhagen 'Cut The World' is a welcome
stepping stone in the recording career of Antony Hegarty. His studio
output since 2009's wonderful 'The Crying Light' has been somewhat
patchy so it's good to be reminded what a power for good he is in the
listening world. Having an orchestra to work with is a boon and Nico
Muhly's arrangements add new texture, depth and lustre to familiar
material and frame this incomparable voice in luminous veils of glorious
sound. Songs like 'Cripple and The Starfish' from his 2005 eponymous debut
and the sublime 'You Are My Sister' from 'I Am A Bird Now' (2004) deliver
performances which stir our emotions and lift our spirit. The mood of the
occasion is vividly captured; the rich ambience of the concert hall adding
warmth and grandeur to these incandescently soulful performances.

Hegarty's monologue 'Future Feminism' is an interesting inclusion. Both
personal testament and universal polemic, it combines sharp historical and
political observation with wry humour. A quietly burning plea for tolerance
and understanding in a cruel and dangerous world. He is a fine ambassador!

The culmination of these revelatory re-imaginings of his work comes with
final track 'Twilight'; a stirring rendition which brings the recording
to a heartrending but ultimately uplifting conclusion. A magnificent coda.

This magical recording deserves a place in every hearth and home.

Essential.

This Antony-recording with The Danish National Chamber Orhestra is pure pleasure from beginning to end.
You are my Sister, Cripple & The Starfish & The Crying Light never sounded better - this is a MUST have for Antony fans.

Ok first I have to say unlike the only other reviewer on here, I have actually listened to the whole album and can't believe that person reviewed the album at all let alone awarded it five stars based on a live performance of a song they heard that appears on this album (a different live performance btw). Sorry but it really annoys me when people review something they haven't actually used etc.

Anyway, getting that little bugbear off my chest I can say that this album is worth getting. It will of course be of particular interest to Antony Hegarty (of The Johnsons) fans but I equally think fans of Baby Dee and other such artists will also love this album. If however you have never heard Antony & The Johnsons then I'd urge you to listen to some of the other albums first as he can be an acquired taste (particular his voice).

This is a live album recorded in Copenhagen with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and so you're getting much more than a standard live performance here. All of the songs are reworkings of previous album tracks (apart from the title track and a rather self-indulgent "lecture" about Future Feminism) and the new instrumentation provided by the orchestra really changes the character and feel of the songs and works brilliantly.

Most songs are rather downtempo with the exception of Kiss My Name which is the most upbeat song on here. The album is just over an hour long and for a live recording is missing pretty much all audience atmosphere and even applause at the end of each song. I presume it was recorded this way on purpose so that they could get clean takes of each individual song but I quite like hearing the audience on live recordings and feel this album loses some of the ambience without it.

For that reason and because of the inclusion of the previous mentioned self-indulgent track Future Feminism, on which Antony talks to the audience (for once you can actually hear them laughing etc) and basically doesn't make a wholly convincing argument for women ruling the world and has a tendency to do that annoying way of talking (popular among Australians etc) of ending each sentence as a question as though he's not sure you know what anything is and he needs to check, I have given the album 4 stars which I think is a fair score.

I really enjoyed this album and think it sits quite nicely with his other albums and I look forward to hearing some new material from him. Highly recommended.