Antony and the Johnsons

'Another World'

Heartrending New York crooner shifts his focus to earth's ills.

Spin Rating7 of 10

Chamber-pop warbler Antony Hegarty has always thrived in stark black-and-white, from the monotone severity of his cover photos to the crashing finality of his lost-love elegies. But he follows 2005's Mercury Prize–winning I Am a Bird Now with something decidedly more green: a five-song EP of environmental mourning. "Shake That Devil" purrs with a Ray Charles–worthy retro R&B beat and the furious nonvegan chorus of "Shake that pig!" The title track crashes back to earth; nearly a cappella, Hegarty runs down a dirgelike list of all the natural gifts we're loudly neglecting to save.

By Stacey Anderson

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