The Thousands

Listening to the THE CRYING LIGHT, I was taken back to the first time I had ever heard Antony Hegarty’s unique voice. Set against beautiful sounds lapping against his melodies like an engagingly soporific tide, Hegarty possessed a certain melancholic charm which kept my virgin ears open to the delicate resonance of his tone. Across the group’s self-titled debut album and sophomore release I AM A BIRD NOW, Hegarty drifts between wavering, quasi-operatic timbre and lightly lisped fragility as the gentle musical backing gracefully makes its way into your subconscious self – a beautiful combination which continues into the group’s latest album.

**Words cannot wholly describe the discreet power of this record, with each track holding its own inner force, resulting in the brittle structure of an album sated with musical elegance and splendour. The beautifully shot accompaniment video for ‘Epilepsy Is Dancing’ manages to capture the collective frail aural swell which filters throughout the record, while ‘Aeon’ attempts to deepen the intensity before the conclusion of ‘Everglade’ adds a muted finality to the album, with the trailing violins underscoring the feel of THE CRYING LIGHT as a whole.

There are some moments in music where you fall into complete awe… This album bestows one of those moments.