We can hardly contain our excitement about the fourth album by the incomparable Antony Hegarty and the best-named band on earth The Johnsons. It is called Swanlights and will be released on 31st August – which is a mere 60 days away! Now we’ve got all the more reason to freak out with excitement because Björk is making a guest appearance on the track “Flétta”. This isn’t the first time the pair have put their equally beautiful voices together. Björk and Antony sung duets on two of the songs from her “pop” album Volta: “The Dull Flame of Desire” and “My Juvenile”.
“The Dull Flame of Desire”
Swanlights is also being released in a special edition that will come with a 144-page book featuring original artwork and writing by Antony, as described on the Antony And The Johnsons website:
“The “Swanlights” book is a collection of thought-provoking paintings, drawings, collages, photography, and writings. Dreamlike and often bleakly environmental, Antony depicts a natural and spiritual world under siege. Much of the work aches with a forlorn romanticism. In some pieces, the artist draws together fragments of the past, the present and the future to create a ghostly sense of omniscience. One image features a portrait of the artist with his great grandmother’s face projected upon his own, creating a ricochet through time and genealogy. Found images of natural landscapes are stained with scrawls of ink, indicating invisible presence and movement. Some pieces are more conceptual; in “Cut Away The Bad”, the artist removes corrupted elements in an attempt to restore balance. In pieces like “I Want To Help” Antony sews a torn landscape back together with a magical intent.”
Get that.
Tracklist:
01 Everything Is New
02 The Great White Ocean
03 Ghost
04 I’m in Love
05 Violetta
06 Swanlights
07 The Spirit Was Gone
08 Thank You for Your Love
09 Flétta (with Björk)
10 Salt Silver Oxygen
11 Christina’s Farm
Via Pitchfork
