Artist: Anna Calvi
Title: Hunted
Genre: Singer / Songwriter / Collaboration
Release Date: 6th March 2020
Label: Domino Records
Album Review
English singer-songwriter and acclaimed guitarist ANNA CALVI is one of those performers you know by sight and sound, but you’re not quite sure how this happened. Quietly, yet boldly pushing her way into the collective musical consciousness, she’s been on a steady upwards curve of credibility since her debut album, way back in 2011. Knowing when to be visible, and when to sit back and let the music do its thing, is half the battle, and Calvi has succeeded admirably at this, always there, lurking and hovering, and just occasionally strutting out to steal a bit of limelight and take a hasty bow.
Following up third album ‘Hunter’, with a reworking of its tracks, is an odd choice then, but it does illustrate the single-mindedness that sets her left of centre. And these aren’t just lazy remixes. At times they’re complete rewrites, as if somehow there wasn’t quite enough merit squeezed from their original forms, and getting your exceptionally cool mates along to guest on them rarely does any harm either. So ‘Swimming Pool’ opens things with a trademark guitar shimmer, all pulsing and aqua before settling into a gorgeous, languid melting of vocals like some heavenly synchronised-swimming team arsing about and showing-off in glorious slow motion. ‘Hunter’ gets all out of breath chasing its own tail, hunter and hunted rushing endlessly around some barren northern landscape, and ‘Eden’ whispers itself into fragile existence with the assistance of the ethereal CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG.
Adding deadpan, professionally tuneless Australian COURTNEY BARNETT to the country twang of ‘Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy’ works perfectly and naturally, and getting current darlings IDLES to guest on ‘Wish’ adds a surreal, nightmare-ish edge - it sounds like what you hear when falling in and out of a drunken sleep at the back of a club at 3am. Magnificent. And ‘Indies Or Paradise’ goes all raw and visceral to finish things off nicely with the feeling you’ve just accidently stepped into the best demo track ever recorded.
Most remix/rewrite records are either blatant cash-ins from bored or financially strapped executives, or musically pointless and not worthy of your time. This however, is a neat little reminder that a song is just a skeleton, and you can flesh it out however you damn well please when it’s YOUR song. ANNA CALVI sounds to have had a lot of fun with ‘Hunted’, and it’s a worthy companion to the original album, and well worth diving in to.
Tracklist
01. Swimming Pool (feat. Julia Holter)
02. Hunter
03. Eden (feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg)
04. Away
05. Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy (feat. Courtney Barnett)
06. Wish (feat. Joe Talbot/Idles)
07. Indies Or Paradise
Line-up
Anna Calvi
Featuring Julia Holter, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Courtney Barnett, Joe Talbot / Idles
Website
https://annacalvi.com / https://www.facebook.com/annacalvi
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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