I Am a Bird Now

From the Peter Hujar photo, Candy Darling On Her Deathbead, that adorns the sleeve, to some of the subject matter - breast amputation (My Lady Story), domestic violence (Fistful Of Love) and gender confusion (For Today I Am A Boy) - it might appear to be a hard shell to crack, but what makes I Am A Bird Now all the more compelling is that Antony is able to take what are profoundly personal words and transform them into something highly ambiguous and hugely accessible.

Nonetheless, it is Antony's voice that, for many, is the main draw. Equal parts Nina Simone, Labi Siffre, Billie Holiday and Jimmy Scott, Antony sings with such sadness, such belief, such frailty and such authority that he could be singing about anything and it wouldn't matter. Even better then, that the lyrics should be so affecting and challenging.

It's somewhat fitting an album which, more than anything, draws on feelings of isolation and loneliness should have such a stellar cast of supporting players. Long-time Antony champion, Lou Reed, adds an unpretentious and almost terse spoken word intro to Fistful Of Love, before Antony delivers a heartbreaking account of domestic abuse ("I feel your fist and I know it's out of love"). Immediately afterwards, Devendra Banhart adds some disturbing incantations to the beginning of the staggering Spiralling.

Just preceding those two songs is What Can I Do? Here, Antony relinquishes the lead vocal role and allows Rufus Wainwright to take centre stage. Wainwright, a highly accomplished singer himself is, despite his best efforts, ultimately upstaged by Antony's supreme backing vocals.

Of the collaborations though, it is, perhaps surprisingly, Antony's duet with Boy George on You Are My Sister than works best. George, who offers his best vocal perfomance since The Crying Game, holds Antony's hand through a paean to broken friendship that is one of the album's most poignant moments.

But, in the end, I Am A Bird Now is not about the special guests; it's about the beauty of Antony's voice, the power of his delivery and the bravery of his words. After Antony has found his wings and completed his metamorphosis on the concluding track, the beauteous Bird Gerhl, the listener is left to reflect on an album of transformation and transcendence, an album that is life affirming and tragic at the same time, an album that is immeasurable in scope and, at times, uncomfortably confessional. An album that has quite literally nothing in common with the rest of the musical output of 2005.

And that, if nothing else, is worth celebrating.

this is the sophomore lp from antony & the johnsons and needless to say it really has to be heard to be believed...

in terms of style it recalls nina simone and lou reed. 'fistful of love' is the heart of this album and the collaboration with the aforementioned lou reed creates a staggering celebration of the joys of life as the tenor saxophone comes out in true new york blues cabaret style...

the striking thing about antony is his voice that lilts, then fluttres and then finally soars like on the startling 'for today i am a boy' that deserves hymn-like status. it is such a unique falsetto voice that the octaves he covers transcend the guest appearances on this album from rufus wainwright, lou reed, devendra banhart and boy george...

yes boy george! - he delivers a commendable and moving performance when duetting with antony on 'you are my sister', it very much feels like the albums success is against all the odds - but any analysis of end of year polls and such is rendered irrelevant when the beautiful human touches of this art really hit home...

the important thing here is aesthetics then and sonically the album is the greatest palate of emotion to surface since 1997 when spiritualized gave us 'ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space'...

an album of full powered soul overall and the feeling is very much raw and hot blooded. too independent to be grouped in relation to any so-called ''peers'' and certainly too cool for ally mcbeal, please get this, stick it on your stereo and you'll see exactly what is being discussed here...

...astounding