Cut the World

Antony Hegarty and a company

Sometimes a band’s line-up may remain unchanged for a decade or even longer or it just gets some slight metamorphosis. However in some cases the line-up does not have to be permanent, because it is simply an accompaniment to the group’s leader. That is exactly what is going on with the band Antony and the Johnsons, which has been pleasing music lovers for more than ten years. Its story began in the late nineties of the last century. Of course, it cannot be called a long arm of coincidence, however the concatenation of circumstances was remarkable successful. Well-known artist David Tibet, a founder of an amazing band Current 93 once heard the demo-record of back-then beginner Antony Hegarty. David enjoyed that creation so much that he offered Anthony a full-time recording at his own label, Durtro. Sure thing that Hegarty decided to take that opportunity and by the year 1998 he presented his very first studio attempt titled Antony and the Johnsons. The album proved to be very successful and, which is important, it really stood out from a great variety of other musicians’ creations. Maybe that is connected with the fact that Hegarty had never tried to write music of some certain style. Nevertheless his songs can be easily recognized due to an amazing atmosphere and incredible tunefulness. In 2012 listeners got a brand new collaboration album of Anthony and his old friends the band called The Johnsons - Cut The World.

A dozen of masterpieces: Cut The World

Antony Hegarty’s fans have been waiting for a new record for two years. It is not too much especially if we try to remember how the things went at the very beginning of a century – back then it took the musicians about five years to record a new album. Well, Cut The World appeared after only two years of working, and a long-awaited release took place this summer. The long play is opened by a title composition Cut The World. In fact, it plays its role just fine and it creates the right mood for listeners. That is indeed a truly melodiousness and delicate beginning, which almost says to fans that Anthony did not change his interests and priorities in the music world. The following track with a fascinating title Future Feminism is nothing but a … monologue. Prepare yourself for seven minutes without music, but with a touching text. Just listen to what the artist says, and will hardly stop that track till you finish it. Not every album has got such an amazing and unusual episode, but can we be really surprised, after all? This is Antony and the Johnsons’ creation, and we know that these musicians do not pay a lot of attention to rules. Then comes another song with an outstanding title, Cripple and the Starfish. A traditionally melodiousness song, where a great part is taken by the wind instruments, which give it a remarkable lightness. If you look carefully at the playlist of Cut The World, you will find a lot of awesome titles, like Epilepsy Is Dancing, I Fell in Love With a Dead Boy, The Crying Light and so on. Curiously enough, but these bright tracks are interesting not only because of their titles.

Original album for connoisseurs

There is no doubt that Cut The World was made not for everyone. It will be hardly appreciated the way it should be by lovers of some certain genres, like electronic music or heavy rock. While those who enjoy a little bit old school tracks, will be simply charmed by Cut The World’s dozen. Actually, that result is rather predictable. Antony Hegarty and his friends-musicians have never let their fans down. Moreover, Antony and the Johnsons’ creativity has no commercial aim at the first place, and probably nobody will try to argue with that. Their music brings some special charm and an atmosphere that is tricky to describe. Some people call it indie-rock, some people identify it as baroque-pop. But in fact it does not really matter which words you choose to describe a many-sided art of Antony and the Johnsons. Every person will find something interesting for himself only, and that is probably the main and the best feature of that star collaboration.