albums and tracks

There is, quite simply, no one else who sounds like Antony Hegarty. At once, his voice is both endlessly beautiful and utterly heartbreaking, a beguiling siren that draws your ear into a different world where pathos and purity weave together to create an utterly astounding experience.

This fact doesn't lessen with time, nor does his unique gift become dulled. Yet there's no denying the one thing that does disappear with prolonged exposure: the startling spine-rippling feeling that came the first time you heard Antony sing.

As a result, the wonder produced by the sheer oddity of the vocal which gave him his breakthrough moment - the all-conquering I Am A Bird Now album - is inevitably lacking from its follow-up.

In many ways, this is a good thing. It allows you to examine not the captivating nature of Antony's larynx, but instead the strength of his songwriting - and that, it turns out, doesn't quite carry the same power.

The Crying Light is not without its mesmeric moments. The craving, desperate and desolate 'One Dove' is a velvet punch to the stomach, the waltzes of both 'Kiss My Name' and 'Epilepsy Is Dancing' have timeless charm, and the crescendo of shouts that explode from 'Aeon' are brilliantly disquieting.

Yet there is a feeling of what could have been, and a wish that Antony had brought at least something from his extra-curricular activities with Björk, Hercules and Love Affair and, in particular, Joan As Policewoman to the proceedings.

That isn't to say The Crying Light is an average album - it's hard to imagine Antony producing such a thing. It is simply that this release is not quite as staggering as I Am A Bird Now, though still a fine achievement.

Chris Long

Picture: PA