This October, English singer/guitarist Anna Calvi makes her triumphant return with her sophomore record One Breath. Known for dark textures and a cinematic scope on her debut self-titled record, One Breath appears to be a bit of a departure. At least if "Suddenly", the second single, is to be believed.
"Suddenly" is as jubilant as Calvi's ever been without coloring in the whole of its evening song pallor. Despite her occasionally breathy delivery, it's far removed from the seductive coo of many of the debut's stand outs. It's a brighter narrative with darkness at its corners threatening to creep in occasionally beaten back with the exuberant choruses.
Anna Calvi's much anticipated sophomore record One Breath is out October 8th in the US on Domino Records.
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Showing posts with label Anna Calvi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna Calvi. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Listen: Anna Calvi - "Eliza"
One of the best bits of new news to drop recently happened to be that UK guitarist Anna Calvi's follow up to her 2011 self-titled debut was not only done being recorded but also set to come out later this year. Considering the strength of her debut, the news of a sophomore record was every bit as thrilling as it should well be.
On "Eliza", the first single from Anna Calvi's forthcoming One Last Breath, the sultry sensuality of the debut is burned off in favor of a far more energetic tale. "Eliza" also features Calvi's band in a far more dynamic role, shelving a bit of Calvi's incendiary guitar chops and cultivated sense of dramatic performance for what's arguably the most pop-leaning tune. That's not to say the Anna Calvi of their debut is gone or the guitar is featured any less prominently but where her debut made use of experimental guitar tones and sense of every song functioning together, "Eliza" seems very much like it could be a standalone track and relies far more of it's catchy melodies and the magnetism of Calvi's booming vocals than any extra-musical sources. It's refreshing but also not too shocking of a change.
Anna Calvi's sophomore effort One Last Breath will be out October 8th on Domino Records.
On "Eliza", the first single from Anna Calvi's forthcoming One Last Breath, the sultry sensuality of the debut is burned off in favor of a far more energetic tale. "Eliza" also features Calvi's band in a far more dynamic role, shelving a bit of Calvi's incendiary guitar chops and cultivated sense of dramatic performance for what's arguably the most pop-leaning tune. That's not to say the Anna Calvi of their debut is gone or the guitar is featured any less prominently but where her debut made use of experimental guitar tones and sense of every song functioning together, "Eliza" seems very much like it could be a standalone track and relies far more of it's catchy melodies and the magnetism of Calvi's booming vocals than any extra-musical sources. It's refreshing but also not too shocking of a change.
Anna Calvi's sophomore effort One Last Breath will be out October 8th on Domino Records.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Anna Calvi - "The Wall" (The Invisible Cover)
Coming up off the release of 2011's self-titled debut, Anna Calvi has certainly been taking her time with a follow up - riding a wave of singles and intimate international shows and conquering the latest festival circuit. And yet somehow, in times like these, she manages to slip out an incredible cover that makes her radio silence almost worth it.
While her singles normally come paired with a single from the album, Anna Calvi's latest cover, of The Invisible's "The Wall", is released all by itself and follows suit with her dark, sultry style that was the very backbone of Anna Calvi. And yet unlike the multitude of tracks on her debut, her cover relies far more heavily on her vocals than her impressive guitar chops. Stripped down and sparse, Calvi is at her most engaging, intoxicating peak.
While her singles normally come paired with a single from the album, Anna Calvi's latest cover, of The Invisible's "The Wall", is released all by itself and follows suit with her dark, sultry style that was the very backbone of Anna Calvi. And yet unlike the multitude of tracks on her debut, her cover relies far more heavily on her vocals than her impressive guitar chops. Stripped down and sparse, Calvi is at her most engaging, intoxicating peak.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Watch: Anna Calvi - "Naughty Girl" (Beyonce cover) live
Releasing her debut album little more than a year ago, British singer/songwriter/guitarist Anna Calvi seems to be taking her sweet time delivering a follow up. Instead she's packaged up single after single from the self-titled debut with some rather tasty goodies. Before the album, Calvi was most known for her take on "Jezebel" made famous by Edith Piaf, well it turns out the girl is just crazy good at covers. Whether it's Elvis Presley's "Surrender" or Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc", Anna Calvi's pretty much rocked them all. Well, in a recent live session for BBC Radio 1, Anna Calvi offered up one more doozy of a cover - Beyonce's "Naughty Girl". She imbues Beyonce's sass and sensuality with some rather dark textures and power - Calvi's version seems more of a sultry game of cat and mouse than Beyonce's come-hither sweet nothings whispered promise.
Watch Anna Calvi's take on Beyonce's "Naughty Girl" here:
Watch Anna Calvi's take on Beyonce's "Naughty Girl" here:
Sunday, December 18, 2011
All Around Sound's Favorite Albums of 2011
This year I got more in sync with music than I think I ever did, with follow ups from established acts like Blind Pilot, Bon Iver, and Feist, the majority of my favorite came from bands and artists I had little to no knowledge to in years prior (with some noteable exceptions). Below are some of my favorite releases of this year that I feel really took the concept of an album to heart.
9) BELL – DIAMONITE
Despite my fastidious allegiance to the format of an album as a means to tell a story, there comes a time when an album can just be a collection of songs and still be okay in my book. This works in the case of BELL’s debut album DIAMONITE based on the cohesive nature of the tracks. Each of Olga Bell’s tracks contain a similar quality that makes them fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and even when she goes off in zany unexpected directions, like the folksy interlude in “Charlie”, they manage to remain a part of the sound and feel of her other songs. Those random moments where she zigs instead of zags breathe life into the album and keep things from getting too stale (not that they were all that much of danger of that to begin with).
8) The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
The Seattle sextet’s debut album has all the making of a great album, that I was kind of surprised not to find it on more best of lists. From the slowly unfurling intro of “Cats and Dogs” that incorporates each member of the ensemble before a heartwarmingly grand unified tutti moment, to how that track leads directly into “Coeur D’alene” there’s no shortage of great musical moments. There’s a wealth of talent contained within the band’s ranks and on the debut each member gets their moment- violinist Charity Rose Thielen often sneaking up on you with brazenly soulful solos that manages to surprise you no matter how much you listen, guitarists/vocalists Jonathan Russell and Josiah Johnson trading off seamlessly, and Kenny Hensley mind-bending piano chops. It all comes together into The Head and the Heart’s folk pop gumbo alongside a smorgasbord of resonating lyricism that doesn’t try too hard.
The Head and the Heart - Lost In My Mind by subpop
7) North Highlands – Wild One
There’s a major different between a lot of the albums on my list and North Highlands’. The wide majority of them made an impact due to stellar lyricism, North Highlands didn’t do and that’s fine. Wild One is an example of a more “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it” approach that doesn’t get nearly enough love. Brenda Malvini’s delivery is part of what makes Wild One such a treat. Repeated lyrics empowered like a command or chant and no matter how many times she repeats a phrase or word – it doesn’t get old. But Malvini’s isn’t the band and it’s due to the effort of the whole that Wild One is the success it is. The group’s playing is tight and diverse, swaggering and bustling to create an enjoyable romp that lasts the whole album – even in downbeat numbers like “Fre$ca” and “Best Part”. North Highlands might keep you emotionally at arm’s length but in doing so they make sure you have plenty of space to listen and more importantly to dance.
6) Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
Considering how recently I got into Marissa Nadler’s latest album, her self-titled sixth, it’s kind of surprising that the album can be one of my favorites of the year and yet it is. Marissa Nadler has managed to positively consume my life from the first listen, no doubt due to Nadler’s crystalline vocals, delicate intricate arrangements resulting from Nadler’s arresting attention to detail, and poetic storytelling.
5) Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
While a bit of a far-cry from her sophomore I Speak Because I Can in terms of emotional intensity and rich moving narrative, Laura Marling continued with her more mature, less conventional songwriting style that revolved around a single driving theme. While I Speak focused on responsibility and womanly duty, A Creature I Don’t Know explored the intense dark emotions that her previous album mostly hinted at. And while album centerpiece “The Beast” falls a bit flat (or needs more time to properly digest), Marling still manages to put together a stunning batch of songs that work exceptionally well together. Marling’s most remarkable tracks are in fact the ones with seemingly the least amount to say “Don’t Ask Me Why”, “Salinas”, and “Sophia”. Rather than trying to drive home her themes like “The Beast” or “All My Rage”, the other songs are small peeks into the mind and psyche of Marling’s characters. While it’s never quite explained why they do what they do, that’s somehow okay. With the exception of “My Friends”, Marling doesn’t ever try to make them accountable for their actions merely to present them in a rich and engaging manner in which she earnestly succeeds.
Laura Marling - Sophia by ListenBeforeYouBuy
4) Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche
Every time Sondre Lerche reemerges from a recording-related hibernation I know the result is going to be something special and dear to my heart. Sondre Lerche’s eponymous sixth album was no different. While not quite as near or dear as Heartbeat Radio (most likely due to the time I’ve spent with the latter), Lerche certainly brings his a-game and manages to both Lerche’s jazzy-pop rock stylings and also tread new ground. It’s an album brimming with brilliant songcraft and arrangements but also Lerche’s exceptional lyricism. On his self-titled, Lerche combines elements from his previous albums like Phantom Punch’s hard rock fizz but takes things to riskier level when Lerche steps out of his comfort zone of singing pseudo-confessional type songs and embraces a broader songwriting style that still manages to sound personal and engaging.
Go Right Ahead by sondrelerche
3) Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
Anna Calvi’s self-titled debut beginning strains transports you to a smoky, dark cabaret club and there you remain until “Love Won’t Be Leaving” fades out gingerly. Anna Calvi lays all the cards out on the table: ninety percent of the album’s songs are about sex or of a sexual nature (“No More Words”, “Desire”, “First We Kiss”) and yet Anna Calvi presents it in such a classy refined manner that you can both relate and appreciate and enthusiastically share with others. Her passion is felt more than stated, her vocals practically exploding from her at precise the perfect time to make its effects most immediate. While Calvi’s exploration of the primal is nothing new, both Wild Beasts and Laura Marling releasing albums doing that same thing this same year, what catches is Calvi’s total allegiance to the world she creates in her exploration of sounds and textures.
Anna Calvi 'Anna Calvi' by Anna Calvi
2) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
I could go on and on about how Fleet Foxes almost didn’t release this album and how we’re all lucky to be able to it and that’d be true. But Robin Pecknold’s neurotic perfectionism has resulted in one of the single most beautiful albums of the year. If an album has a weak track or two, that’s expected and not really cause for alarm but what do you do when an each and every track on an album is utter perfection? It’s something to be celebrated. That’s no easy feat and Fleet Foxes have managed to do this on their sophomore record and with an effortlessness that belies the frustration its member most likely felt making it.
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by subpop
1) ARMS – Summer Skills
In a year where I found several eagerly anticipated follow up albums to be flops, ARMS is one of the few bands that not only delivered but exceeded all my wildest expectations. Summer Skills, with its supernatural break up album concept, delivered not only a boldly innovative idea but presented it in a way that was exceptionally mindful of itself and charmingly catchy. Todd Goldstein achieves an elegant balance between grizzly detail and imagination-fuelling vagueness in his songwriting that only helps to enrich the album’s miscellaneous stories. Each song pits the two main characters in a new predicament which Todd Goldstein’s deft songwriting and the band’s startlingly precision underscore and navigate you through. Summer Skills is labyrinthine and yet wholly accessible, an album with nearly as many instantaneous rewards as its hidden treasures.
9) BELL – DIAMONITE
Despite my fastidious allegiance to the format of an album as a means to tell a story, there comes a time when an album can just be a collection of songs and still be okay in my book. This works in the case of BELL’s debut album DIAMONITE based on the cohesive nature of the tracks. Each of Olga Bell’s tracks contain a similar quality that makes them fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and even when she goes off in zany unexpected directions, like the folksy interlude in “Charlie”, they manage to remain a part of the sound and feel of her other songs. Those random moments where she zigs instead of zags breathe life into the album and keep things from getting too stale (not that they were all that much of danger of that to begin with).
8) The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
The Seattle sextet’s debut album has all the making of a great album, that I was kind of surprised not to find it on more best of lists. From the slowly unfurling intro of “Cats and Dogs” that incorporates each member of the ensemble before a heartwarmingly grand unified tutti moment, to how that track leads directly into “Coeur D’alene” there’s no shortage of great musical moments. There’s a wealth of talent contained within the band’s ranks and on the debut each member gets their moment- violinist Charity Rose Thielen often sneaking up on you with brazenly soulful solos that manages to surprise you no matter how much you listen, guitarists/vocalists Jonathan Russell and Josiah Johnson trading off seamlessly, and Kenny Hensley mind-bending piano chops. It all comes together into The Head and the Heart’s folk pop gumbo alongside a smorgasbord of resonating lyricism that doesn’t try too hard.
The Head and the Heart - Lost In My Mind by subpop
7) North Highlands – Wild One
There’s a major different between a lot of the albums on my list and North Highlands’. The wide majority of them made an impact due to stellar lyricism, North Highlands didn’t do and that’s fine. Wild One is an example of a more “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it” approach that doesn’t get nearly enough love. Brenda Malvini’s delivery is part of what makes Wild One such a treat. Repeated lyrics empowered like a command or chant and no matter how many times she repeats a phrase or word – it doesn’t get old. But Malvini’s isn’t the band and it’s due to the effort of the whole that Wild One is the success it is. The group’s playing is tight and diverse, swaggering and bustling to create an enjoyable romp that lasts the whole album – even in downbeat numbers like “Fre$ca” and “Best Part”. North Highlands might keep you emotionally at arm’s length but in doing so they make sure you have plenty of space to listen and more importantly to dance.
6) Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
Considering how recently I got into Marissa Nadler’s latest album, her self-titled sixth, it’s kind of surprising that the album can be one of my favorites of the year and yet it is. Marissa Nadler has managed to positively consume my life from the first listen, no doubt due to Nadler’s crystalline vocals, delicate intricate arrangements resulting from Nadler’s arresting attention to detail, and poetic storytelling.
5) Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
While a bit of a far-cry from her sophomore I Speak Because I Can in terms of emotional intensity and rich moving narrative, Laura Marling continued with her more mature, less conventional songwriting style that revolved around a single driving theme. While I Speak focused on responsibility and womanly duty, A Creature I Don’t Know explored the intense dark emotions that her previous album mostly hinted at. And while album centerpiece “The Beast” falls a bit flat (or needs more time to properly digest), Marling still manages to put together a stunning batch of songs that work exceptionally well together. Marling’s most remarkable tracks are in fact the ones with seemingly the least amount to say “Don’t Ask Me Why”, “Salinas”, and “Sophia”. Rather than trying to drive home her themes like “The Beast” or “All My Rage”, the other songs are small peeks into the mind and psyche of Marling’s characters. While it’s never quite explained why they do what they do, that’s somehow okay. With the exception of “My Friends”, Marling doesn’t ever try to make them accountable for their actions merely to present them in a rich and engaging manner in which she earnestly succeeds.
Laura Marling - Sophia by ListenBeforeYouBuy
4) Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche
Every time Sondre Lerche reemerges from a recording-related hibernation I know the result is going to be something special and dear to my heart. Sondre Lerche’s eponymous sixth album was no different. While not quite as near or dear as Heartbeat Radio (most likely due to the time I’ve spent with the latter), Lerche certainly brings his a-game and manages to both Lerche’s jazzy-pop rock stylings and also tread new ground. It’s an album brimming with brilliant songcraft and arrangements but also Lerche’s exceptional lyricism. On his self-titled, Lerche combines elements from his previous albums like Phantom Punch’s hard rock fizz but takes things to riskier level when Lerche steps out of his comfort zone of singing pseudo-confessional type songs and embraces a broader songwriting style that still manages to sound personal and engaging.
Go Right Ahead by sondrelerche
3) Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
Anna Calvi’s self-titled debut beginning strains transports you to a smoky, dark cabaret club and there you remain until “Love Won’t Be Leaving” fades out gingerly. Anna Calvi lays all the cards out on the table: ninety percent of the album’s songs are about sex or of a sexual nature (“No More Words”, “Desire”, “First We Kiss”) and yet Anna Calvi presents it in such a classy refined manner that you can both relate and appreciate and enthusiastically share with others. Her passion is felt more than stated, her vocals practically exploding from her at precise the perfect time to make its effects most immediate. While Calvi’s exploration of the primal is nothing new, both Wild Beasts and Laura Marling releasing albums doing that same thing this same year, what catches is Calvi’s total allegiance to the world she creates in her exploration of sounds and textures.
Anna Calvi 'Anna Calvi' by Anna Calvi
2) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
I could go on and on about how Fleet Foxes almost didn’t release this album and how we’re all lucky to be able to it and that’d be true. But Robin Pecknold’s neurotic perfectionism has resulted in one of the single most beautiful albums of the year. If an album has a weak track or two, that’s expected and not really cause for alarm but what do you do when an each and every track on an album is utter perfection? It’s something to be celebrated. That’s no easy feat and Fleet Foxes have managed to do this on their sophomore record and with an effortlessness that belies the frustration its member most likely felt making it.
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by subpop
1) ARMS – Summer Skills
In a year where I found several eagerly anticipated follow up albums to be flops, ARMS is one of the few bands that not only delivered but exceeded all my wildest expectations. Summer Skills, with its supernatural break up album concept, delivered not only a boldly innovative idea but presented it in a way that was exceptionally mindful of itself and charmingly catchy. Todd Goldstein achieves an elegant balance between grizzly detail and imagination-fuelling vagueness in his songwriting that only helps to enrich the album’s miscellaneous stories. Each song pits the two main characters in a new predicament which Todd Goldstein’s deft songwriting and the band’s startlingly precision underscore and navigate you through. Summer Skills is labyrinthine and yet wholly accessible, an album with nearly as many instantaneous rewards as its hidden treasures.
Honorable Mentions:
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Caveman - CoCo Beware
The Deloreans - "American Craze"
Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers - On Being
Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers - On Being
The Dodos - No Color
Left With Pictures - In Time
tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Anna Calvi - "Suzanne & I" video
Just this year Anna Calvi released her self-titled debut album. And since it's January release, Calvi has been going strong with numerous worldwide tours and shows and now she's released the third single from the album "Suzanne & I".
The video has to be the coolest use of sheets I have ever seen. A dancer being pulled off a bed by the blankets alone, traversing through a cloth forest, and scenes of Anna Calvi and her band playing while blanketed figures dance behind them are but a few of the awesome effects in the video. There's also some pretty awesome dance scenes. While initially fighting the two dancing girls then become inseparable even as group of male dancers come and literally tear them apart, taking them through a series of aggressive turns, spins, and lifts.
The video has to be the coolest use of sheets I have ever seen. A dancer being pulled off a bed by the blankets alone, traversing through a cloth forest, and scenes of Anna Calvi and her band playing while blanketed figures dance behind them are but a few of the awesome effects in the video. There's also some pretty awesome dance scenes. While initially fighting the two dancing girls then become inseparable even as group of male dancers come and literally tear them apart, taking them through a series of aggressive turns, spins, and lifts.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi (2011)
Who the hell is Anna Calvi? That's question I asked myself over and over when I visited the UK earlier this year and saw poster after poster promoting her self-titled debut. Honestly, I was far more excited about the new Noah and the Whale (whose posters were never quite far away from hers) to pay her the necessary time of day. It's only after I read a rave review of her recent Bowery Ballroom show that I realized how much of a mistake that was.
The instrumental "Richer to the Sea" is your intro to Anna Calvi's Spanish night club/flamenco-inspired style. Featuring an ominous solo guitar to set the mood, it crackles with drama and intensity before giving way to "No More Words", Calvi's actual introduction as she seductively croons in a cabaret style "Oh my love" each with enough emotional punch and artful inflection to insure the phrase never grows old. Anthemic "Desire" signals another change in Calvi's style, plugging up and flushing out her heretofore solo endeavor, amping up her triumphant declarations of love and lust. "The Devil" features Calvi going back to her sparse arrangements while also featuring her using siren-like calls and fuzzy guitars to evoke a supernatural atmosphere.
When Anna Calvi's voice first entered on "No More Words", I had a hard time grasping what all the fuss was about. It's not until you witness all the other way she utilizes her utterly jawdropping voice that I realized how much effort the track's breathy vocals take. Some of the truly great things about Calvi's debut are essentially the easiest to miss: Like the recurring flamenco-esque theme introduced in "Richer to the Sea" or her coquette-ish vocal stylings. Her songwriting manages to use a wide variety of elements at her disposal while also distilling it into something simple and utterly visceral. Her lyrics serving to augment her already rather evocative compositional style and yet, still being of actual substance.
Get a taste of Anna Calvi with her video for "Blackout":
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