Review Summary: "Everything is new," Antony Hegarty sings. And so it is.
“Every, everything is new,” Antony Hegarty croons on the first track of his highly anticipated fourth studio album,
Swanlights. And so it is, as we soon discover; everything really
is new.
The album’s dramatic shift in sound can be analogized to the album’s cover artwork - a colorful, warm-hued collage, in direct contrast to the stark chiaroscuro of its two predecessors. While
I Am A Bird Now and
The Crying Light dwell largely in brooding, intimate monochrome,
Swanlights inhabits a brighter realm. But never fear, for the ineffable qualities that make Antony…well, himself, haven’t left the premises. The blossoming soundscapes and that inimitable voice are still present, but have been utterly transformed to create as sound that is at once both instantly identifiable, yet disarmingly unfamiliar.
First and foremost, Antony sounds much more content here than in much of his previous work, his usual earnestness now infused with ecstasy rather than wistfulness. There are certainly moments on this record that are atavistic of Antony’s now-ubiquitous brooding sound - namely, “The Spirit Was Gone” and “The Great White Ocean” - but generally speaking, the album is surprisingly optimistic in tone. Songs like “Salt Silver Oxygen” saunter and stroll with charming naïveté amidst sumptuous orchestral arrangements, melodies soaring with characteristic flair. Gone are the moments of frightening catharsis; although the aforementioned “Salt Silver Oxygen” has an achingly gorgeous climax, it sounds more blissful than anything else, a far cry from the devastating crescendo that defined “Hope There’s Someone”. The lyrics are vague, Antony singing cryptic lines like “elect the salt mother,” but you get the sense that words play second fiddle to melody here.
Besides, it’s arguable that Antony fares better when his intentions are a bit more opaque. The most lyrically straightforward moments on
Swanlights are the weakest; songs like “I’m In Love” and “Thank You For Your Love” are almost too forthright and veer dangerously close to sleazy nightclub territory. Thankfully, these missteps are the exception, not the rule. If
The Crying Light suggested that Antony was headed somewhere more beatific,
Swanlights marks his arrival at that place, and it’s more beautiful than any of us could have ever imagined.
