catch-up: Antony & The Johnsons

Antony & The Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now - now that I've finally gotten over the shock of his voice and listened to the goddamn album, it's not bad. Gracefully arranged strings interact with warm and lulling piano chords and unobtrusive drums; it's decent cabaret music with a strong gay sensibility. But the boy isn't Rufus Wainwright (but Rufus must know something I don't, since he's a huge fan and shows up here). What's the big deal here? Antony's nice enough, and I guess if I listened to his lyrics closely enough I'd pick up on all the latent transgression, but sentiments like the album-opening "Hope there's someone waiting for me when I die" seem more universal than anything. The album is OK background music, but I'm not picking up on what's so special.