Anna Calvi:Anna Calvi

8/10 dropps

Anna Calvi’s self-titled debut plays out with a sense of deliberation from beginning to end. The release was created with the premise that albums once were – to be enjoyed in entirety and not piecemealed across YouTube and the internet blogosphere. Hailing from England, Anna Calvi spent time with producer Rob Ellis who also moonlights as the drummer for England’s beloved PJ Harvey, and while there may be some influence from that combination, the association is fragile at best. The album itself is a solid piece of indie rock, lined with dark – yet hopeful – storytelling, and musically and lyrically highlights 60s and 70s rock influences among tinges of western and beachy riffs. Album opener “Rider To The Sea” is an under-three-minute, mostly instrumental piece that is anchored as a lead into its following track, “No More Words,” where Anna does just the opposite, delivering vocals reminiscent of a female Nick Cave mated with Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs: a bold and powerful tone with deep lows and quavering highs. Her voice, paired with the powerful instrumentation and a true sense of melody, create a truly dark and romantic sense of atmosphere throughout the album which is prevalent not only sonically but lyrically. There is a definite sense of tension and release in her writing, and it seems to be something that Calvi plays with throughout the album.

Songs like “First We Kiss” start to play on the more ethereal side of things with light strums and Anna’s breezy melodies, until a cacophony of sound erupts in waves with layered chorus and vocals that sweep the songs gracefully and with ease. This is followed by a track called “The Devil” which starts with the same formula until you find yourself in a daze with Anna’s vocals blaring “The Devil.” All of this leads up to the obvious single (and most immediately exhilarating track on the album), “Black Out.” “Black Out” is a four-minute example of in-your-face song construction. The track starts with hazy breaths that soften and set the mood; they’re quickly met with rollicking drums that stay present and glaring throughout. The song is composed of walls of layered sound and multi-instrumentation, as well as a backing track of Anna’s voice that almost sounds like a siren whooping in the wind as she belts “oh blackout I won’t tell where you’re from cause you’re in the dark I could be anyone don’t leave don’t leave me.” Album closer “Love Won’t Be Leaving” enters with a steady bass drum and auxiliary percussion before a crash of cymbals is invoked, adorned with tones like a rusty meat saw, brilliant violins, and a guitar riff that begs to be followed by the deep, groaning vocals of Nick Cave. Instead, Anna Calvi is comfortably and confidently at the helm (as she has been the whole album), creating a sound reminiscent of its predecessors and influences, but one that is refreshing and inventive, to go against the grain of her contemporaries in 2011.

-PMP