I Am a Bird Now (2005)

I Am a Bird Now is the second studio album by Anohni's band Antony and the Johnsons, released on February 1, 2005, by Secretly Canadian. After it won the 2005 Mercury Prize, the record shot up the UK albums chart from No. 135 to No. 16 in one week, the biggest jump in the history of the prize. As of September 2011, UK sales stood at 220,000 copies.

I Am a Bird Now features guest appearances by Rufus Wainwright, Devendra Banhart, Boy George and Lou Reed. The cover is a photograph by Peter Hujar of Warhol superstar Candy Darling on her deathbed.

Reception

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's Brandon Stosuy praised the vocals, writing "The ultimate draw is [Anohni's] voice, and within the first two seconds of the album, it should be very clear to even the most unaware newbies that [Anohni] has an amazing Nina Simone/Brian Ferry [sic]/Jimmy Scott vibrato, a multi-octave siren that would sound painfully lovely no matter what [she] was saying."

The album has appeared on several end of year lists. Mojo named I Am a Bird Now the best album of 2005. Pitchfork ranked the album No. 5 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2005. On the same website, the track "Hope There's Someone" was ranked No. 28 on their list of the Top 500 Songs of the 2000s and was selected as 2005's best single. In 2019, the album was ranked 40th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list.

Influence

The song "For Today I Am a Boy" is the namesake for the book For Today I Am a Boy, by Kim Fu. The song's lyrics are quoted in the novel's epigraph.

Personnel

The following people contributed to I Am a Bird Now:

Antony and the Johnsons

• Anohni Hegarty – organ, piano, vocals
• Tahrah Cohen – drums
• Julia Kent – cello

Parker Kindred – drums (track 7)

• Jeff Langston – bass
• Maxim Moston – violin
• Joan Wasser – viola
• Doug Wieselman – saxophone

Additional personnel

Devendra Banhart – guitar (track 5), vocals (track 8)

Steve Bernstein – horn

John Bollinger – drums (track 5)

Keith Bonner – flute

Boy George – vocals (track 5)

Danielle Farina – viola (tracks 2, 9)

Jason Hart – piano (track 6)

Rainy Orteca – bass (track 7)

Lou Reed – guitar and vocals (track 7)

Paul Shapiro – horn

Rufus Wainwright – vocals (track 6)

Julia Yasuda – Morse code, vocals (track 9)

• Emery Dobyns – engineer and mixer
• Doug Henderson – mixer and mastering