Cut the World

Cut the World
Live album by Antony and the Johnsons
Released	7 August 2012 (2012-08-07)
Recorded	2–3 September 2011
Venue	Koncerthuset (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Genre	Art pop, chamber pop, baroque pop
Length	60:42 [1]
Label	Rough Trade
Producer	Karl Bjerre Skibsted
Antony and the Johnsons chronology
Swanlights (2010) Cut the World (2012) Turning (2014)

Cut the World is a live album by Antony and the Johnsons, recorded in Copenhagen and released in August 2012. ^[1]

In 2012 it was awarded a double silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, ^[2] which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The A.V. Club	B+ [4]
Drowned in Sound	8/10 [5]
The Irish Times	[6]
Mojo	[7]
musicOMH	[8]
NME	8/10 [9]
Pitchfork	8.1/10 [10]
PopMatters	9/10 [11]
The Telegraph	[12]

Cut the World received wide acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 31 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". ^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Anohni.

No.	Title	Original album	Length
1.	"Cut the World"		4:19
2.	"Future Feminism"		7:35
3.	"Cripple and the Starfish"	Antony and the Johnsons	5:32
4.	"You Are My Sister"	I Am a Bird Now	4:20
5.	"Swanlights"	Swanlights	7:18
6.	"Epilepsy Is Dancing"	The Crying Light	2:57
7.	"Another World"	The Crying Light	5:26
8.	"Kiss My Name"	The Crying Light	4:07
9.	"I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy"	I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy(EP)	4:51
10.	"Rapture"	Antony and the Johnsons	4:47
11.	"The Crying Light"	The Crying Light	3:21
12.	"Twilight"	Antony and the Johnsons	6:09
Total length:			60:42

• The title track "Cut the World" is a new song from Anohni that was made for the play The Life and Death of Marina Abramović directed by Robert Wilson and starring Anohni, Marina Abramović and Willem Dafoe. ^[13]
• "Future Feminism" is a spoken word track where Anohni "discusses [her] ideas in a speech [she] made during one of the concerts. Addressing the effects of patriarchy on the global ecology, Anohni explores the possibility of shifting towards feminine systems of governance in a gesture to restore our world." ^[13]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Cut the World album liner notes. ^[14]

Antony and the Johnsons

• Antony Hegarty – vocals, arranger
• Thomas Bartlett – piano
• Rob Moose – arranger, conductor
• Maxim Moston – arranger

Additional

Greg Calbi – mastering Danish National Chamber Orchestra – orchestra Erik Heide – first violin Tatjana Kandel – orchestra artistic manager Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin – photography Jens Langkilde – recording technician

Shaun MacDonald – administration Nico Muhly – arranger Daniel Murphy – layout Ossian Ryner – engineer, mixing Karl Bjerre Skibsted – producer Robert Wilson – director (1)

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [15]	24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [16]	8
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [17]	38
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [18]	31
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [19]	2
French Albums (SNEP) [20]	20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21]	27
Irish Albums (IRMA) [22]	22
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA) [23]	4
Italian Albums (FIMI) [24]	25
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [25]	11
Scottish Albums (OCC) [26]	44
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [27]	10
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [28]	28
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29]	27
UK Albums (OCC) [30]	41
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [31]	3
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [32]	42
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard) [33]	15

References

1. "Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 24 August 2013.
2. "13/12/12: More Independent Artists Take European Gold, Silver and Platinum Awards Than Ever Before | Impala". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
3. "Cut the World [Live] – Antony and the Johnsons". Metacritic. CBS Interactive . Retrieved 24 August 2013.
4. Sundermann, Eric (7 August 2012). "Antony and the Johnsons: Cut the World". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 2 June 2025.
5. "Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
6. Murphy, Lauren (3 August 2012). "Antony and the Johnsons - Cut the World Rough Trade". The Irish Times . Retrieved 2 June 2025.
7. The four songs drawn from eco-themed album The Crying Light gain particular vitality.... The other major beneficiaries of Muhly and co.'s top notch orchestral work art Antony's earliest songs. [Aug 2012, p.82]
8. "Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". musicOMH. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
9. "Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". NME. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
10. "Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Pitchfork]. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
11. Chiola, Enio (6 August 2012). "Antony and the Johnsons: Cut the World". PopMatters . Retrieved 2 June 2025.
12. Brown, Helen (3 August 2012). "Antony and the Johnsons, Cut the World, review". The Telegraph . Retrieved 2 June 2025.
13. "Secretly Canadian". Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
14. Cut the World (CD liner notes). Antony and the Johnsons. Rough Trade Records. 2012. RTRADCD663.
15. "Austriancharts.at – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
16. "Ultratop.be – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
17. "Ultratop.be – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
18. "Danishcharts.dk – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
20. "Lescharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
22. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 32, 2012". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
23. "GFK Chart-Track – Independent Albums: Week 32, 2012". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
24. "Italiancharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
25. "Norwegiancharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
26. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
27. "Spanishcharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
28. "Swedishcharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Antony and the Johnsons – Cut the World". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
30. "{{{artist}}} | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
31. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
32. "Antony and the Johnsons Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
33. "Antony and the Johnsons Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 July 2023.