In 2004, Antony and the Johnsons emerged as one of the most compelling new voices in independent music. Following the release of their acclaimed self-titled debut, Antony signed with the Indiana-based independent label Secretly Canadian, which reissued the album and introduced its deeply personal blend of chamber pop, folk, and experimental music to a growing international audience. Throughout the year, Antony performed extensively across the United States and Europe, including festival appearances in Italy and Indiana, while preparing solo tours alongside CocoRosie.

The haunting visual world of The Lake was created through a collaboration with Italian painter Andrea Saltini and the multimedia collective Gruppo Kobaiashy. Saltini's work draws from mythology, medieval allegory, religious iconography, and surrealism, creating richly symbolic landscapes inhabited by foxes, knights, birds, saints, children, and other enigmatic figures. His paintings evoke a timeless dreamscape where beauty, melancholy, innocence, and mystery coexist, inviting viewers to discover their own meanings rather than follow a fixed narrative.

For The Lake, Saltini's paintings became the foundation of the video's visual language. Forests, lakes, armored knights, foxes, and symbolic creatures unfold like the pages of an illuminated medieval manuscript, mirroring the song's emotional depth and themes of memory, transformation, and the relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Bringing these paintings to life was Gruppo Kobaiashy, an Italian multimedia collective known for blending fine art with experimental animation. Rather than illustrating the lyrics directly, the collective preserved the painterly textures and symbolic richness of Saltini's work, allowing each image to move with quiet elegance and dreamlike rhythm. The result is less a conventional music video than a cinematic work of visual poetry, where music and imagery become inseparable.

The collaboration remains one of the defining visual statements of Antony and the Johnsons' early career, standing as a rare example of contemporary music intersecting with fine art, folklore, and medieval-inspired symbolism to create an enduring and emotionally resonant work.

During this same period, Antony's artistic profile continued to expand through acclaimed collaborations and performances. Antony appeared alongside Lou Reed on the live album Animal Serenade, performing the Velvet Underground classic Candy Says, and was featured in Italian Vogue. New recordings, intimate solo performances, and international touring further established Antony as one of the most singular voices of the era.

Today, Antony performs under the name ANOHNI, celebrated internationally for a body of work that bridges art-pop, chamber music, experimental composition, and political expression. Her extraordinary voice and uncompromising artistic vision have made ANOHNI one of the most influential and emotionally resonant artists of her generation.