Antony and the Johnsons

Antony and the Johnsons is an American music group presenting the work of Anohni (formerly known as Antony Hegarty) and her collaborators.

Antony and the Johnsons
Anohni performing in 2008
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.[1]
Genres	Art pop[2] chamber pop[3] avant-pop[4]
Years active	1995–2015 (hiatus)
Labels	Secretly Canadian, Rough Trade
Website	antonyandthejohnsons.com
Members	Anohni Julia Kent Parker Kindred Jeff Langston Rob Moose Maxim Moston Doug Wieselman Thomas Bartlett

Career

British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Anohni's music through his Durtro label. Anohni started the band, its name inspired by the drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson.[5] The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 1998. In 2001, Hegarty released a short follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of "Mysteries of Love", a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and "Soft Black Stars", a Current 93 cover.

Producer Hal Willner heard the EP and played it to Lou Reed, who immediately recruited Hegarty for his project The Raven. Now gaining more attention, Hegarty signed to U.S.-based record label Secretly Canadian, and released another EP, The Lake, with Lou Reed guest-performing on one of the tracks. Secretly Canadian also re-released Hegarty's debut album in the United States to wider distribution in 2004.

Anohni's second full-length album, 2005's I Am a Bird Now, was greeted with positive reviews and significantly more mainstream attention. The album featured guest appearances by Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, Boy George, and Devendra Banhart, and circled themes of duality and transformation. I Am a Bird Now featured arrangements by Maxim Moston and Julia Kent and was mixed by Doug Henderson. In September 2005 Antony and the Johnsons were awarded the Mercury Prize[6] for the best UK album of 2005. Rival Mercury nominees, and favorites for the prize, the Kaiser Chiefs suggested that Anohni got in on a technicality; despite the fact she was born in the United Kingdom she spent much of her time in the U.S.—although they later apologized for the suggestion that she wasn't a deserving winner.

In 2005 Antony and the Johnsons' single "Hope there is Someone" featured in the celebrated Spanish director Isabel Coixet's[7] 7th film "The Secret Life of Words"[8] "Hope there is Someone" went on to be arguably one of the bands most popular songs.[9] The group then collaborated with experimental film-maker Charles Atlas and presented TURNING in November 2006 in Rome, London, Paris, Madrid, and Braga. Thirteen women from New York City were presented in intimate live video portraits during the course of the concert.[10] The Guardian called the piece "fragile, life affirming, and truly wonderful (five stars)". Le Monde in Paris hailed TURNING as "Concert-manifeste transsexuel".

The 2007 film about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There, featured their cover of his song "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" on the soundtrack release.

Antony and the Johnsons' 5-song Another World EP was released on October 7, 2008. Antony and the Johnsons' third album, The Crying Light,[11] was released on January 19, 2009 and went to No. 1 on the European Billboard charts.[12] Anohni has described the theme of the album as being "about landscape and the future".[13] Nature, death, love and the role of the artist were explored across ten tracks, which included the single "Epilepsy Is Dancing." The album was mixed by Bryce Goggin and included arrangements by Nico Muhly.

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."[14]

After touring throughout North America and Europe in support of their new album, Antony and the Johnsons presented a unique staging of The Crying Light with the Manchester Camerata at the Manchester Opera House for the 2009 Manchester International Festival. The concert hall was transformed into a crystal cave filled with laser effects created by installation artist Chris Levine. Antony and the Johnsons went on to present concerts with symphonies across Europe in Summer 2009, including the Opera Orchestra of Lyon, the Metropole Orchestra, Roma Sinfonietta and the Montreux Jazz Festival Orchestra. At Salle Pleyel in Paris, Anohni appeared in a costume designed for her by Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy.

After two sold-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House, Antony and the Johnsons ended their recent touring in February 2010 in Tokyo. Anohni, Johanna Constantine and William Basinski performed at the Sogetsu Hall with butoh master Yoshito Ohno, the son of the 103-year-old dancer Kazuo Ohno, whose image graces the cover of The Crying Light.[15] Kazuo Ohno died in June of that year, and Anohni wrote an obituary for the dancer in The Guardian.[16]

In interviews around the world in 2010, Anohni described her work on Swanlights and The Crying Light as "a collision between joy and a sense of hopelessness". Anohni said she was struggling to come to terms with the idea that she was part of a society that was having a "virulent" impact on the earth.[17] She suggested that the degradation of nature was partially a result of the subjugation of women and earth-based spiritual systems.[17] Anohni also blamed the collapse of humanity's sustainable relationship with the earth in part on the rise of patriarchal religions that suggest the destiny of humanity to be "a paradise elsewhere". Interview Magazine describes Swanlights as "an emotional personal call for global, collective change".[18]

September 2010 saw the release of the Thank You For Your Love EP which includes covers of Dylan's "Pressing On" and Lennon's "Imagine". The Sun listed Thank You For Your Love as single of the week on August 27, 2010.

Antony and the Johnsons released a 4th album Swanlights on October 12, 2010 through Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade Records. Simultaneously, Abrams Books published a book edition of Swanlights featuring Anohni's drawings and collages with photography by Don Felix Cervantes. Antony and the Johnsons performed "Thank You For Your Love" on both the Late Show with David Letterman and Later... with Jools Holland in support of the album's release. In October 2010 Anohni was invited to "takeover" The Guardian's music and arts page that ran for weeks leading up to the release of Swanlights.[19] Stereogum placed Swanlights in its Top 50 Albums of the year at #8.[20]

In tribute to Kazuo Ohno, Antony and the Johnsons performed on October 30, 2010 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke's and featured the film "Mr. O's Book of the Dead" directed by Chiaki Nagano and starring Kazuo Ohno.[21]

In January 2011, Anohni was a guest on Winterguest, a program on Dutch Television's VPRO channel and was interviewed by Leon Verdonschot.

In 2010–2011, the song "Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground" from the album The Crying Light was chosen as one of the five stimuli that the International Baccalaureate Organization chose for the IB Theatre Arts PPP.

On January 26, 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York produced a sold-out performance by Antony and the Johnsons, entitled "Swanlights" after their fourth studio album, at Radio City Music Hall, a collaboration with laser artist Chris Levine and set designer Carl Robertshaw. The event was prefaced by a speech from Dr. Julia Yasuda, who said: "I am concerned about nature changing and dying. Won't you please help her? Otherwise the world will be too lonely". The New York Times described the concert as "Cries From the Heart, Crashing Like Waves".[22] This collaboration was later staged at the Royal Opera House in London in 2013 for two days[23] and at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 2014 for four consecutive days.[24]

Antony and the Johnsons released a live symphonic album in August 2012 entitled Cut the World; it features a track called "Future Feminism", which consists of a speech in which Anohni disparages patriarchal religions and advocates for a shift towards feminine systems of governance as part of an effort to avert global ecological disaster.[25]

On February 23, 2015, Anohni announced through her Facebook and official site the name of her new album, HOPELESSNESS, although no release date was provided. The album is being mixed and is co-produced by Hudson Mohawke, Oneohtrix Point Never and herself. It would be released under the moniker ANOHNI. It was described as an "electronic record with some sharp teeth".[26]

In June 2015, Antony and the Johnsons performed at Dark Mofo in Tasmania, Australia, as a benefit in support of the Martu people of Parnngurr in Western Australia in their fight to prevent a uranium mine from being developed near their community by Canadian multinational Cameco and Mitsubishi. Anohni appeared with Martu representatives at a press conference at the MCA in Sydney and on ABC's Q&A in further service of this cause.[27]

In May 2016, HOPELESSNESS was released by Anohni on Secretly Canadian, Rough Trade, and Hostess.

In popular culture

• In 2000, the song "Rapture" was performed in the movie Animal Factory during a cameo appearance by Anohni.
• In 2004, the song "I fell in love with a dead boy" is used for the opening sequence of Wild Side [28]
• In 2006, the song "Bird Gerhl" was used in V for Vendetta. It was also included in the soundtrack released by Astralwerks Records, which featured artists such as Julie London and Cat Power along with instrumental work by composer Dario Marianelli.
• In December 2006, the song "Hope There's Someone" was featured in the Torchwood episode Random Shoes.
• In Paolo Sorrentino's The Family Friend (2006) the song "My Lady Story" is included in the soundtrack.
• In 2008, the song "For Today I Am A Boy" was used in the documentary Trinidad.[29]
• In 2008, the song "River of Sorrow" was used in the popular crime show Bones, season 4 episode 7, entitled "The He in the She" (an episode about the murder of a transgender pastor)
• In 2009, Antony and the Johnsons was referenced in Spanish rock band Pereza's song "Champagne," from their album, Aviones.
• In 2010, the Antony and the Johnsons' song "Fistful of Love" was used in the French film Little White Lies.
• In November 2011, the English folk group The Unthanks released a live album, The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & the Johnsons.
• On March 14, 2012, the Southbank Centre in London announced that Anohni would direct Meltdown 2012. Her curation includes performances by Marina Abramović, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Selda Bağcan, Diamanda Galás, CocoRosie, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Elizabeth Fraser, Kembra Pfahler, William Basinski, Yoshito Ohno, Cyclobe, David Tibet, Joey Arias and Marc and the Mambas.[30]
• In 2013, the track "Angel on Fire" was created exclusively for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
• In 2014, their cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" was used in the trailer for the finale of Sons of Anarchy[31]
• In 2015, the song "Knocking on Heaven's Door" was used in Season 1 Episode 9 of Netflix original TV series Sense8.
• In 2016, the song "Hope There's Someone" was used in the French film Un homme à la hauteur.
• In 2016, 'Sugar: A Quartet of Stories', a book by actor/writer Matthew Waterhouse, (from 'Doctor Who'), included a story titled 'I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy'.
• In 2019, the song "For Today I Am A Boy" was used in the teaser trailer for the Netflix series Tales of the City.[32]

Band members

Current members include:

• Anohni – lead vocals, piano
• Julia Kent (previously of Rasputina) – cello
• Parker Kindred – drums
• Jeff Langston – bass
• Doug Wieselman – horns
• Maxim Moston – violin, arrangement
• Rob Moose – guitar, violin
• Thomas Bartlett – piano

Previous members have included:

• Joan Wasser – violin
• Reuben Butchart – piano
• Tahrah Cohen

Bibliography

• Antony and the Johnsons, Swanlights, Abrams Image, 2010
• Jerome Solal, La Voix d'Antony, Le Mot et le Reste, 2011

Awards

Year	Awards	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
2005	Mercury Prize	I Am a Bird Now	Album of the Year	Won
	Shortlist Music Prize			Nominated
	Antville Music Video Awards	"Hope There's Someone"	Best Video	Nominated
	MOJO Awards	Antony and the Johnsons	Best New Act	Nominated
2006	Danish Music Awards		Best International Newcomer	Won
	PLUG Awards		Artist of the Year	Nominated
			Live Act of the Year	Nominated
		"Hope There's Someone"	Song of the Year	Nominated
		I Am a Bird Now	Album of the Year	Nominated
	Meteor Music Awards		Best International Album	Nominated
	GLAAD Media Awards	Antony and the Johnsons	Outstanding Music Artist	Nominated
2009	Rober Awards Music Poll		Best Songwriter	Won
		"Crazy in Love"	Best Cover Version	Nominated
2010	Best Art Vinyl	Swanlights	Best Art Vinyl	Nominated	[33]
	Sweden GAFFA Awards	Antony and the Johnsons	Best Foreign Solo Act	Won	[34]
2011	GLAAD Media Awards		Outstanding Music Artist	Nominated
2012	Lunas del Auditorio		Best Foreign Rock Artist	Nominated
	UK Music Video Awards	"Cut the World"	Best Alternative Video – UK	Nominated

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions											Certifications (sales thresholds)
		UK	AUS	AUT [35]	DEN [36]	FRA [37]	GER	NED [38]	NOR [39]	SUI	SWE [40]	US
2002	Antony and the Johnsons Released: February 8, 2002 Label: Durtro	118[41]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	59	—
2005	I Am a Bird Now Released: February 1, 2005 Label: Secretly Canadian	16	69	71	38	45	—	58	4	—	22	—	UK: Gold NOR: Gold[42] SWE: Gold
2009	The Crying Light Released: January 19, 2009 Label: Secretly Canadian	18	33	21	3	4	15	4	4	7	2	65
2010	Swanlights Released: October 11, 2010 Label: Secretly Canadian	28	70	30	20	16	29	10	4	32	9	122
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Live albums

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions											Certifications (sales thresholds)
		UK	AUS	AUT [35]	DEN [36]	FRA [37]	GER	NED [38]	NOR [39]	SUI	SWE [40]	US
2003	Live at St. Olave's 1st live release, three songs on a split EP with Current 93 Label: Durtro	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	Cut the World 2nd live release, 1st full-length live album Label: Rough Trade Records	41	—	24	31	20	27	2	11	27	28	—
2013	Del suo veloce volo[43][44] Live album recorded at Verona. Hegarty supported and dueted with Franco Battiato and performed eight songs on this release. Label: Universal Music	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

Soundtrack albums

Year	Album details	Chart peak positions											Certifications (sales thresholds)
		UK	AUS	AUT [35]	DEN [36]	FRA [37]	GER	NED [38]	NOR [39]	SUI	SWE [40]	US
2014	Turning Soundtrack for Turning by Charles Atlas Format: CD and DVD	—	—	—	—	146	—	70	—	—	—	—

Singles and EPs

Year	Single / EP	Chart peak positions				Other charts	Record Label	Album (main single / main track on EP)
		UK	UK Budget	US	FRA [37]
1998	"Cripple and the Starfish" (single)	—	—	—	—			Antony and the Johnsons
2001	I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy (EP) * "I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy" / * "Mysteries of Love" / * "Soft Black Stars"	—	—	—	—		Durtro
2003	"Calling for Vanished Faces" / "Virgin Mary" (7" Promo split single, 500 copies)	—	—	—	—		Current 93
2004	The Lake (EP) * "The Lake" / * "Fistful of Love" / * "The Horror Has Gone"	—	—	—	—		Secretly Canadian	"Fistful of Love" from I Am a Bird Now
2005	Hope There's Someone (EP) * "Hope There's Someone" / * "Frankenstein" / * "Just One Star"	44	—	—	—		Secretly Canadian	"Hope There's Someone" from I Am a Bird Now
	You Are My Sister (EP) * "You Are My Sister" / * "Poorest Ear" / * "Forest of Love" / * "Paddy's Gone"	39	—	—	190		Secretly Canadian / Rough Trade	"You Are My Sister" from I Am a Bird Now
2006	I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy (EP, reissued)	—	—	—	—		Rebis Music
2008	Another World (EP) * "Another World" / * "Crackagen" / * "Shake That Devil" / * "Sing for Me" / * "Hope Mountain"	—	6	179	36	AUS No. 31 FIN No. 14 SWE No. 33 ITA No. 10	Secretly Canadian	"Another World" from The Crying Light
2009	"Epilepsy Is Dancing" (single) * "Epilepsy Is Dancing" / * "Where Is My Power?"	—	—	—	79		Secretly Canadian	"Epilepsy Is Dancing" from The Crying Light
	"Aeon" / "Crazy in Love" (Double A-side single) * "Aeon" / * "Crazy in Love" (Beyoncé cover)	—	—	—	—	NED No. 14	Secretly Canadian	"Aeon" from The Crying Light
2010	Thank You for Your Love (EP) * "Thank You for Your Love" / * "You Are the Treasure" / * "My Lord My Love" / * "Pressing On" (Bob Dylan cover) * "Imagine" (John Lennon cover)	—	—	—	—	SWE No. 54	Secretly Canadian	"Thank You for Your Love" from Swanlights
	Swanlights (EP) * "Swanlights" / * "Find The Rhythm of Your Love" / * "Kissing No One" / * "Swanlights" OPN Edit	—	—	—	—		Secretly Canadian / Rough Trade	"Swanlights" from Swanlights
2012	"Cut the World (live)" (with Danish National Chamber Orchestra) (single)	—	—	—	188	NED No. 88	Secretly Canadian	Cut the World
2013	"Fistful of Love"	—	—	—	58			I Am a Bird Now

References

1. Monger, James Christopher. "Antony and the Johnsons". Allmusic. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
2. "Antony and the Johnsons". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
3. Pareles, Jon. "Anohni: Embracing a New Name, and Sound". The New York Times. Retrieved August 22, 2016.
4. "Volta". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
5. "Marsha P. Johnson (1944–1992) Activist, Drag Mother." A Gender Variance Who's Who. May 2, 2009. Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
6. "Antony and Johnsons win Mercury". BBC News, September 7, 2005. Retrieved on October 25, 2008.
7. "Isabel Coixet", Wikipedia, February 11, 2020, retrieved February 11, 2020
8. "The Secret Life of Words", Wikipedia, November 20, 2019, retrieved February 11, 2020
9. "Hope There's Someone", Wikipedia, January 3, 2020, retrieved February 11, 2020
10. Archived November 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
11. Barclay, Michael."Antony and the Johnsons Transformed", Exclaim!, February 2009.
12. "Antony and the Johnsons news". Antonyandthejohnsons.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
13. "Exclaim!". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
14. "'Wretches and Jabberers' documentary on autism draws support (and music) from Scarlett Johansson, Anohni, Bob Weir, others [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
15. "Progress Report". Stereogum. February 23, 2010.
16. "Kazuo Ohno Obituary". The Guardian. June 7, 2010.
17. "Antony and the Johnsons". Vogue Italy. October 27, 2010.
18. "Antony Sees the Swanlight". Interview Magazine. November 2, 2010.
19. "Antony and the Johnsons Takeover". The Guardian. October 11, 2010.
20. "2010 Top 50 Albums". Stereogum. December 8, 2010.
21. "Fluid Voice With a Fluid Persona Firmly Attached". New York Times. October 31, 2010.
22. Pareles, Jon (January 27, 2012). "Cries from the heart, crashing like waves". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
23. Betty Clarke. "Antony and the Johnsons – review". the Guardian. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
24. "Antony and The Johnsons amplía su presencia en el Teatro Real con un concierto extraordinario". Teatro-real.com. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
25. "Antony and the Johnsons Announce Live Album | News". Pitchfork. May 18, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
26. "Antony and the Johnsons news". Antonyandthejohnsons.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
27. "Antony Hegarty, the Martu and the Mine". Guardian. June 19, 2015.
28. "Wild Side (2004) - Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
29. "Trinidad (2008) – Soundtracks". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
30. "Meltdown | 2012: Antony's Meltdown". Southbank Centre. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
31. "Sons of Anarchy Series Finale FX Trailer". YouTube. December 3, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
32. "Tales of the City | Teaser [HD] | Netflix". YouTube. April 9, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
34. "GAFFA-Priset 2010". GAFFA (in Swedish). Sweden. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
35. "Discographie Antony and the Johnsons – austriancharts.at".
36. "danishcharts.dk – Discography Antony and the Johnsons".
37. "lescharts.com – Discographie Antony and the Johnsons".
38. "dutchcharts.nl Antony and the Johnsons discography (Netherlands)".
39. "norwegiancharts.com – Discography Antony and the Johnsons".
40. "swedishcharts.com – Discography Antony and the Johnsons".
41. Tobias Zywietz (April 12, 2009). "Chart Log UK". Zobbel. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
42. "IFPI Norsk platebransje". Ifpi.no. Archived from the original on April 22, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
43. "DEL SUO VELOCE VOLO". Amazon.it. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
44. "Franco Battiato – Official Website". Battiato.it. Retrieved December 19, 2014.