Warning to readers: the following review contains an excessive amount of superlatives - all very necessary and certainly not deviating from the general consensus among critics and fans.
Hitherto unknown on this side of the Atlantic, Antony is one of those rarities for whom the term 'born to sing' is instantly applicable. The deft way in which his voice draws you in is hugely impressive. Born in England and raised in Santa Cruz, Antony discovered he was special when his singing first moved school friends to tears. Increasingly aware of his 'special' gender status, a twelve-year old Antony found his calling in a Culture Club album cover: 'I saw [Boy George] and thought, 'Okay, that's what we do when we're like this: We become singers.'' It's that same resolve that comes across when he sings 'One day I'll grow up and be a beautiful woman/For today I am a boy'.
Fast forward two decades to New York - through stints in performance art, drag, cabaret, and acting roles that combine the lot (Animal Factory, Wilde Side) - and Antony has recorded a superb duet, 'You Are My Sister', with none other than Boy George.
Simultaneously delicate and powerful, his voice is artlessly androgynous and strangely reminiscent of his heroine Nina Simone. And for all the range and might of his instrument, the vocals are perfectly set off by AntonyÍs wonderful chamber ensemble, The Johnsons.
Also joined by Rufus Wainwright, Devendra Banhart and his hero-turned mentor Lou Reed, Antony's lyrics are deeply personal but heÍs said he feels 'less lonely' in the company of guest vocalists. Broaching feelings of love and loss, identity and isolation, he may sound like a Nina reincarnate but Antony's is a voice that you've never before heard, no more so than on 'My Lady's Story': 'My lady's story is one of annihilation /My lady's story is one of breast amputation'. Simply stunning.