NYC native singer/keyboardist Anton Sword writes neo-glam synthpop and lush indie-electronic music for cynical yet inwardly tenderhearted bookworms. Drawing on british crooners like Ferry, Eno & Bowie, 80s synths, cocktail piano, krautrock, prog, and glitchy electronics, Sword combines his influences to create "Interesting, musically subtle, tasteful, original, witty music.infectiously rhythmic and impossibly memorable." (neverlearnedtoswim.com)
Sword plays in NYC monthly, in Europe frequently, and has toured the Eastern USA twice with his amazing band, a quartet of area natives whose roots represent the 4 points of the NYC compass: Anton from the Upper West Side, guitarist Julian Maile from the West Village, drummer Kristin Mueller from the Jersey Shore, and bassist Gina Marie Rodriguez from Long Island. Julian Maile is a stalwart of Joe McGinty's Losers Lounge; Kristin Mueller also drums with Lucinda Black Bear, Christy & Emily, and Clare Burson; Gina Marie Rodriguez has played with the Detroit Cobras and Les Sans Culottes. Sometimes the band also includes Chris Wilson (Love Spit Love, Mabuses, Lloyd Cole), Kay Luebke, Michael Lawson, and others.
Anton also plays more stripped-down electronic arrangements of his catalog with bassist Gina Marie in a keys-and-bass duo called Sword & Slave. Sometimes they're joined by Michael Lawson on guitar.
Anton Sword is based in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, and produces and releases his music on his own label, Kiss Chase. There are 2 full-length CD's to date: 'A Sentimental Education' (2007), and 'City of Oblivion' (2010). May 1, 2012 sees the official release of Sword's new EP, 'Here in the Hurricane.'
Sword also plays keyboards and sings in other collaborative projects. Current and former projects include J.C. & Anphibius, The Paparazzi, Glim, Bee & Flower, and Ghostwise. He also sits in sometimes with C. Gibbs & Lucinda Black Bear.
Sometimes Anton takes himself a little too seriously, but his melodies are beautiful, his lyrics usually interesting, and his beats cool, so forgive him. Girls are usually more enamored of his tunes than boys, but the boys are always won over in the end.
Interesting, musically subtle, tasteful, original, witty music.infectiously rhythmic and impossibly memorable.
--neverlearnedtoswim.com
Dark and scintillating and full of texture.Anton Sword is a storyteller with an artist's ear for music, constructing these vast musical landscapes against which his bard's tales are told.The musicianship is outstanding.--wildysworld.blogspot.com
Should you have forgotten what a beautiful ballad is or what a finely crafted good pop song sounds like, Anton Sword has "A Sentimental Education"ready for you: 11 wonderfully produced songs of melancholy, love and the fleetingness of human existence.dark but tender.
--romangame.blogspot.com
