Anna Calvi | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Hailed as "the best thing since Patti Smith" by Brian Eno, as well as being included in the BBCs Sound of 2011 list, the hype surrounding London-born Anna Calvi came to a crescendo in late 2010. Gaining critical acclaim among music journalists, Calvi drew comparisons with passionate and brooding musicians like Nick Cave and PJ Harvey. The dense and rich musical influences that inhabit Calvis world are broad and distinctive strokes of sultry flamenco, smoke-filled blues, and seductive goth pop/rock. Adding to this tapestry of influences, Calvi claims to have been inspired by the films of David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, and Wong Kar Wai; the cinematic element of her music contributes a mysterious and unyielding undercurrent to her work. At the age of 17, after eschewing art school in favor of a music degree, Calvi began to learn her trade and assemble musical partnerships. In 2006, she met percussionist and harmonium player Mally Harpaz, and later recruited drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood. The release of her debut single, "Jezebel," in the fall of 2010 was an electric cover version of the Edith Piaf standard. The young Calvi soon captured the attention of Domino Records boss Lawrence Bell after a glowing reference from former Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, who had witnessed one of Calvis gigs in Manchester. Bell quickly signed her to his label. Ryder-Jones was not the only celebrity admirer of Calvis, an acquaintance of Brian Enos also urged him to listen to this emerging talent. After hearing Calvis raw and unplugged performances on The Attic Sessions (the early demos that she recorded on an eight-track in her parents attic), the distinguished producer soon became her mentor and unofficial cheerleader. Calvi entered Black Box studio in France with the much-lauded producer Rob Ellis to record her self-titled debut album in 2010. Using vintage analog equipment, Calvi created a velvet Wall of Sound that justified the hype in the buildup to its 2011 release. Following the release of her debut album, Calvi was inundated with award nominations, with accolades such as Best British Breakthrough Act at the BRITS in 2012, and she was presented with the European Border Breaks alongside being invited to judge that years prestigious Mercury Prize. Toward the end of 2012 she lent her powerful voice to Noah and the Whales title track, "Heart of Nowhere," between sessions for her second release, One Breath, which was issued in 2013. Strange Weather, an EP of covers, arrived in 2014. The following years saw Calvi diversify beyond the recording and touring cycle to embrace many different projects. In 2015 she recorded "The Heart of You" for the science fiction film The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and that same year she once again joined the judging panel for the Mercury Prize. The next year Calvi joined John Cameron Mitchell and Neil Gaiman on the David Bowie tribute album Strung Out in Heaven, following Bowies death. In 2017 Calvi widened her purview further with the announcement that she had written a rock opera, and The Sandman premiered at the Ruhrfestspiele Festival in Recklinghausen, Germany. The following year she released her much-anticipated third record. The ten-track Hunter was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire) and featured the Bad Seeds Martyn Casey and Portisheads Adrian Utley. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Anna Calvi Released: 2011-01-17 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Rider to the Sea (02:40) 2 No More Words (03:51) 3 Desire (03:51) 4 Suzanne & I (04:11) 5 First We Kiss (03:05) 6 The Devil (04:34) 7 Blackout (04:05) 8 I’ll Be Your Man (03:10) 9 Morning Light (04:13) 10 Love Won’t Be Leaving (05:37) |
| Anna Calvi : Allmusic album Review : Citing the likes of Debussy, Captain Beefheart, and Nina Simone as her main influences, its clear from the outset that Anna Calvi isnt your average, run-of-the-mill singer/songwriter. She may have been tipped for success by everyone from the broadsheet music press to Brian Eno, but her blend of sultry blues-rock and dark, mysterious flamenco is a million miles away from the chart-friendly output of her fellow Sound of 2011 nominees. Her self-titled debut, therefore, is unlikely to reap the same commercial rewards as the likes of Jessie J and Clare Maguire, its uncompromising, gothic, David Lynch-esque nature certainly wont spawn any bite-size TV ad soundtracks or airplay favorites your mom can sing along to. But in a music scene dominated by female solo artists, Calvis romantic but often sinister ten songs certainly helps her to stand out from the crowd. Opening track "Rider to the Sea," sets the scene immediately, a brooding instrumental whose atmospheric twanging guitars would provide the perfect score should Quentin Tarantinos much rumored Kill Bill 3 ever come to fruition. Calvis haunting and intense vocals first come to the forefront on "No More Words," a gloriously menacing number which evokes the shimmering distorted harmonies of My Bloody Valentine. But its on the grandiose "Desire" when Calvi really unleashes the impassioned post-punk tones that have drawn favorable comparisons with the likes of Patti Smith and PJ Harvey (whose regular collaborator, Rob Ellis, is also here on production duties). Backed by an impressively tight backing band, the likes of "Suzanne and I," a future James Bond theme in the making, "Ill Be Your Man," which would sit comfortably on Florence and the Machines Lungs, and "Blackout," which evokes Phil Spectors expansive Wall of Sound, prove Calvi isnt averse to delivering slightly more accessible material. But its the more unconventional "The Devil," which undoubtedly provides the albums highlight, a mesmerizing, stripped-down fusion of classical, rock, and flamenco that showcases her virtuoso guitar skills, and her effortless shifts from whispering restraint to primitive aggression before ending in layers of drenched feedback. By the time the epic strings have reverberated on closing track "Love Wont Be Leaving," youre left in no doubt as to why the industry appears to be so excited about her. Capturing the intensity and raw emotion of her captivating live shows, Anna Calvi is an ambitious and always intriguing debut which heralds the arrival of a unique and inventive addition to the plethora of U.K. female singer/songwriters. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: One Breath Released: 2013-10-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 39:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Suddenly (03:34) 2 Eliza (03:38) 3 Piece by Piece (03:16) 4 Cry (02:54) 5 Sing to Me (04:01) 6 Tristan (02:42) 7 One Breath (04:43) 8 Love of My Life (03:06) 9 Carry Me Over (05:27) 10 Bleed Into Me (03:41) 11 The Bridge (02:08) |
| One Breath : Allmusic album Review : On her 2011 Mercury-nominated debut, bewitching, guitar-slinging Brit Anna Calvi delivered enough atmosphere to terraform her own planet. Elegant and poised, yet undeniably coiled and ready to strike at the first sign of a threat, songs like "Desire," "Suzanne & I," and "Blackout" sounded like a radio caught between Roy Orbisons "Crying" and PJ Harveys "Man-Sized." One Breath, her intoxicating sophomore outing, picks right up where her eponymous first impression left off, offering up a pair of fevered, reverb-drenched, bordello-rock gems in "Suddenly" and "Eliza," before shifting gears with the icy and elliptical "Piece by Piece," one of several tracks that owe more than a cursory nod to the punchy, overcast minimalism of late-period Scott Walker. Calvis more comfortable with pushing the envelope this time around, and One Breath feels like the work of an artist who has been given (or has at least given herself) carte blanche. Songs like "Cry," with its explosive blasts of Carlos Alomar-borne feedback, the hypnotic "Bleed into Me," which sounds like Jeff Buckley taking on King Crimsons "Matte Kudasai," and the nervy, incredibly intimate title track, may mine different areas of the sonic map, but they remain firmly entrenched in the ever-expanding Anna Calvi universe. Having eschewed much of the cavernous chamber pop of her debut for more challenging yet no less rewarding fare, Calvis less adventurous fans may find themselves at a loss as to how to process it all, but theres something both immaculate and broken about One Breath that ultimately transcends its more difficult moments. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Strange Weather Released: 2014-07-14 Tracks: 5 Duration: 21:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Papi Pacify (04:22) 2 Im the Man That Will Find You (04:56) 3 Ghost Rider (02:42) 4 Strange Weather (05:32) 5 Lady Grinning Soul (03:56) |
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Live for Burberry Released: 2017-02-20 Tracks: 5 Duration: 17:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Whip the Night (live for Burberry) (03:06) 2 Nathaniel (live for Burberry) (02:42) 3 iT (live for Burberry) (04:06) 4 Eliza (live for Burberry) (03:38) 5 Desire (live for Burberry) (03:56) |
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: Live at Meltdown Released: 2017-04-22 Tracks: 12 Duration: 57:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Sing to Me (05:12) 2 Rider to the Sea (03:03) 3 Blackout (04:22) 4 Suddenly (04:11) 5 Suzanne & I (04:12) 6 Wolf Like Me (04:54) 7 I’ll Be Your Man (04:13) 1 Strange Weather (05:17) 2 Desire (04:12) 3 Love Won’t Be Leaving (07:40) 4 Ghost Rider (05:06) 5 Vespers Movement 5 / The Bridge (05:11) |
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Hunter Released: 2018-08-31 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 As a Man (03:46) 2 Hunter (04:11) 3 Don’t Beat the Girl Out of My Boy (04:03) 4 Indies or Paradise (04:41) 5 Swimming Pool (04:54) 6 Alpha (03:41) 7 Chain (04:47) 8 Wish (05:16) 9 Away (04:14) 10 Eden (04:08) |
| Hunter : Allmusic album Review : Anna Calvi took a five-year break after releasing 2013s One Breath, but the intervening time didnt diminish the grand sound shes been cultivating since her debut. From the title tracks breathy opening to the soaring melody of "Away," her gift for elucidating the drama of a bygone era is intact and just as effective. If anything, the lustily provocative nature of her artistry reaches its dizzy apex on Hunter. She takes the drama of 80s power ballads and extracts its most gothic textures, no doubt aided by Nicolas Launays (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) expansive production, which recalls the airiness he gave the Bad Seeds Push the Sky Away. A great deal of the record explores the fluidity of gender by playing with many of the common tropes associated with masculinity, from "Alpha" to "Hunter." The former tracks arch, elongated riffs, and the predatory prowl of "Indies or Paradise," include some of Calvis most warped and consummate shredding to date, further dispelling another macho myth -- that only boys can play guitar. Nevertheless, these virile expressions never come at the expense of Calvis femininity, as the lush swirl of "Swimming Pool" attests. Like gender, the record also examines sexuality. Calvi has flirted with a queer point of view before, as on "Ill Be Your Man" from her 2011 debut. But Hunter is the record which fundamentally lives and breathes queerness, a record where on "Chains" she suggests, "Ill be the boy, you be the girl/Ill be the girl you be the boy." Unlike earlier efforts, this feels less like theater for theaters sake, and ultimately, unbridled and infinitely real. On "Wish," for instance, shes never sounded so liberated, and that lack of constraint bleeds into her guitar playing, hinting at a newfound joy amid the curious majesty of her music. Hunter is the record where, more than any other, Calvis talents have fully crystallized. The true character of her music has been unleashed and will likely see all those PJ Harvey comparisons finally fade, eclipsed by the radiance of this tough yet open-hearted work. | ||