My Tears Have Turned To Snow

Antony & the Johnsons “Kiss My Name”

“Kiss My Name” starts out with a rather solemn introduction before settling into a steady, simple groove that provides a bit of solid ground to contrast with Antony Hegarty’s lovely, gently floating vocal melody. As the piece progresses, Hegarty’s voice is increasingly overcome by romance and elation, and the rest of the instruments in the arrangement follow suit, leading to one of the most wonderfully rhapsodic sequences in any composition I’ve encountered in recent memory. The composition is remarkably articulate in expressing extraordinarily nuanced emotional states, with every minute change in the arrangement suggesting a gradual shift in the balance of a delicate set of emotional shades and hues. This is truly the sort of expression best suited to music — the tones, beats, and inflections convey so much more than the words, which are fine enough and give shape to the sentiment, but are only the most superficial element of the song.

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