Just eighteen months after his critically acclaimed debut album Service Station at the End of the Universe, the poet, spoken-word artist and producer from Manchester returns with a radically vulnerable piece of work that signals a new era for UK dance music.
Released on 21st August, Decoding Birdsong is an album about luck and loneliness, hope and choosing to believe in something – whatever that is. Or as Antony humbly describes it: “It’s a bit of poetry, bit of alternative music and a bit of dance music. Equally suited to the pres, the durings and afters.”
Including an eclectic lineup of collaborators such as Pretty Girl, Imogen and the Knife and 1-800 GIRLS, and paired with Antony’s audaciously hopeful poetry, the album challenges you to ask yourself the questions that are most difficult: Is there a meaning in everything, or is there any meaning at all? What happens if I fail? Am I living the way I want to be living?
Across 13 songs and 46 minutes, you’re invited on a journey into the deeper parts of yourself you’re too scared to touch. The music is spacious, nostalgic and empowering. The lyrics are sharp, vulnerable, and Antony’s poetry feels effortless.
In the verses, you’ll be drawn into endless metaphors and existential explorations, whilst the choruses will lift you up with hope with a simple sentence like “You’ll never be alone again, my love” or “Find something you love and get lost all in it”.
A masterful strength of this record is that it allows space for the listener to project their own realities and make their own meanings. But yet, you don’t need to fully understand the meaning behind everything – you just need to listen. Each song hits you in your feels and creates a liberating need to dance. It pushes you to move, to see more clearly, to want to hug your friends, to cry a little, to live more loudly.
‘Chalk’ sets the scene. It’s restless and enigmatic, almost provocative, interrogating luck and control in an infectious electro-dance beat – a defining album opener.
Moving in a disco-themed nostalgia, ‘The Heron’ speaks about patience, self-belief and being present. ‘Bookie’s Favourite’ feels dark, vulnerable and exposed, paired with melodic synths and Ellur’s haunting vocals.
‘Seminal’ is for dancing. The kind where you’re alone in a room and moving like nobody’s watching, while screaming “oh my god it’s hysterical just how lonely you feel!”. Bold and deeply poetic.
‘Flight Simulator’ is a turbulent yet euphoric journey through life. No one really knows how to navigate life or love or loss or fate. You may fly so high and touch the sun, and then suddenly crash. Do you take the risk and try your luck? Or wait for that sign and lean into it to guide you?
When you get to ‘The First Five Minutes of Magnolia’, that spontaneous head movement starts. Punchy electric guitars take over and Pretty Girl’s smooth vocals navigate the beat, while Antony muses on loneliness, coincidence and his favourite film.
‘Commune’ talks about love, while ‘You’re Not Supposed to Do This Forever’ wrestles with fate and existence – reminding you that everything ends at some point, and that’s okay.
At ‘Aussie Gold Hunters’, you reach your epiphany and may relate to some of the lyrics a bit more than you expected. By the time you hear the last piano notes, you know you’ve reached the end of a beautiful self-exploratory journey. You may need a minute to take it all in before you get back to your day – just like when you’re not quite ready to leave your seat after watching a great film at the cinema.
Decoding Birdsong is a simply beautiful record.
