I Am a Bird Now
| I Am a Bird Now | ||||
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| Studio album by Antony and the Johnsons | ||||
| Released | February 1, 2005 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:27 | |||
| Label | Secretly Canadian | |||
| Producer | Anohni | |||
| Antony and the Johnsons chronology | ||||
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| Singles from I Am a Bird Now | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 88/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| The Guardian | |
| Los Angeles Times |  |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.6/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | A− |
| The Village Voice | B− |
I Am a Bird Now is the second album by New York City band Antony and the Johnsons. It won the Mercury Prize on September 6, 2005. After winning the prize, the album shot up the UK albums chart from #135 to #16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the Mercury Music Prize. As of September 2011, UK sales stand at 220,000 copies.
The album features guest appearances by Rufus Wainwright ("What Can I Do?"), Devendra Banhart, Joan Wasser and by lead singer Anohni's childhood heroes Boy George and Lou Reed. The cover is a photograph by Peter Hujar of Warhol Superstar Candy Darling on her deathbed (aptly titled "Candy Darling on Her Deathbed").
I Am a Bird Now received very positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a score of 88 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim."
Drowned in Sound's Anthony Gibbons gave the album a score of 10/10, writing "It's not an exaggeration. This isn't hype. I Am A Bird Now is a beautiful, emotive, glorious, and sometimes sinister album that will top many a critic's list come the end-of-year polls, and justifiably so."Tiny Mix Tapes also gave the album a perfect score, writing "This music grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. It feels timeless and gorgeous and bigger than life. It may not be 'soul' in the strict, music appreciation 101 sense, but it could make even the most jaded atheist approach a metaphysical regard... I'd put on my critic's cap and dive into scrutiny, but I am too enraptured by this artist's music."Pitchfork Media's Brandon Stosuy praised the vocals, writing "The ultimate draw is Antony's voice, and within the first two seconds of the album, it should be very clear to even the most unaware newbies that Antony has an amazing Nina Simone/Brian Ferry/Jimmy Scott vibrato, a multi-octave siren that would sound painfully lovely no matter what he was saying."
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Wikipedia