Anna Calvi (album)

History

The debut album's material had been written in Anna Calvi's parents' attic, using eight-track equipment. Of Rob Ellis, best known for his work with PJ Harvey, she said:

He’s old-school rock‘n roll… you know, 'Hit the drums harder!' Which I love. We both share a love of classical music...he loves the same composers as I do. So I didn’t have to explain what I meant when I said that I wanted I wanted a guitar or a shaker to sound like an orchestra. It was great to find someone who understood.

Calvi herself said she was proud with the album and picked out two songs where she felt she'd got close to what she ultimately wanted to achieve: "Love Won’t Be Leaving" (noted for microscopic sound detailisation) and "The Devil". "I see music very visually. And I want the music itself to express the story as much, if not more, than the lyrics. I think I achieved that on Love Won’t Be Leaving," she commented on the former. As for the latter, "It’s a good example of how I wanted to make the guitar sound like another instrument. I wanted the middle-section to sound like the strings on a Hitchcock soundtrack. It crescendos towards an explosion, but in a real and honest way. It's not about bravado," she added.

Singles

"Blackout" (with the cover of an Elvis Presley song 'Surrender' on the b-side) was released as the first single from the album on 21 March 2011 and was debuted on Pitchfork in the US. "Desire" was the second single (backed with a reworking of Leonard Cohen's "Joan Of Arc") and was released on 20 June 2011. The track was available on 7" (RUG412) and via digital download (RUG412D). "Suzanne & I" (backed with the cover of the Shirelles "Baby It's You") was released as the third single from the album on 12 September 2011.

Reception

Upon its release, the album received generally good reviews from music critics. Aggregating website AnyDecentMusic? reports a score of 7.6 based on 29 professional reviews, Independent on Sunday giving it the highest 5/5 ranking.

Reviewer Eamonn Seoige (IHeart AU), called the album "fully-formed and... an instantly engaging body of work", argued that it's "key strength is honest, raw power." Describing Calvi's songs as "poetic, free-flowing, often incorporating multiple styles that frame her distinctive and kaleidoscopic vocal range," he added: "A gifted musician, possessor of a unique voice and writer of inimitable songs, Calvi is already primed for greatness." Matt James of PopMatters described Calvi as "eternally glamorous, but perennially doomed nightclub torch-song singer with a skeleton army in their closet" and her debut, never "afraid to be fantastical, striking," as "rich and strange". NME called the debut "perhaps the first great record of 2011." According to Jon O'Brien of AllMusic, this "ambitious and always intriguing debut... heralds the arrival of a unique and inventive addition to the plethora of U.K. female singer/songwriters."

Mojo placed the album at number 8 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011."

Publication Score NME 9/10 Mojo 4* Uncut 4* The Observer Album of The Week Independent on Sunday Album of The Week Evening Standard 4* Album of The Week Irish Times 4* Album of The Week Irish Tribune 5/5 Album of The Week Guardian 4* The Times 4* Financial Times 4* Daily Mail 4* The Sun 4* Time Out 4* Album of The Week Artrocker 4* The Fly 4* Rough Trade Album of The Month

Track listing

All tracks written by Anna Calvi.

Personnel

Technical personnel