In May 2017, Calvi's rock opera The Sandman - which was based on German author E.T.A. Following David Bowie's death, Calvi joined John Cameron Mitchell and Neil Gaiman on the tribute EP Strung Out in Heaven in February 2016, contributing her vocals and guitar to a version of "Blackstar." That March, she performed "Me and the Devil" at Pieces of a Man: The Gil Scott-Heron Project, a part of that year's Convergence Festival in London. In 2015, she recorded "The Heart of You" for the science fiction film The Divergent Series: Insurgent with Portishead's Adrian Utley and once again joined the Mercury Prize judging panel. The following years saw Calvi embark on many different projects. That year, Calvi also appeared on the title track of Marianne Faithfull's album Falling Back and closed out 2014 with an ambitious concert with the Heritage Orchestra at London's St. After touring in support of One Breath, she followed with July 2014's Strange Weather EP, a set of covers that included songs by David Bowie and FKA Twigs and featured a duet with David Byrne. and earned Calvi her second Mercury Prize nomination. Like its predecessor, the album charted in Europe and the U.K. Completed in six weeks, One Breath appeared in October 2013 and drew inspiration from the work of Steve Reich and John Adams, as well as the loss of someone close to Calvi. Recording once again at Black Box as well as Texas' Elmwood Recording Studios, this time she shared production duties with John Congleton. Following its release, Anna Calvi was nominated for the Mercury Prize, while Calvi won the 2012 European Border Breakers Award and was nominated for Best British Breakthrough Act at that year's Brit Awards.Īlong with being a Mercury Prize judge and collaborating with Noah and the Whale on the title track to their album Heart of Nowhere, in 2012 Calvi began work on her second album. Featuring contributions from the Invisibl's Dave Okumu and Brian Eno (a fan of Calvi's since hearing her first demos), the album charted in the U.K. and Europe in January 2011 and in the U.S., Australia, and Japan that March. Using vintage analog equipment, she created a lush yet formidable sound on Anna Calvi, which was released in the U.K. To make her debut album, Calvi worked with co-producer Rob Ellis (known for his work with PJ Harvey, whose intense style was akin to Calvi's) at France's Black Box studio. Her first release for Coral was October 2010's single "Jezebel," a bold reworking of the Frankie Laine and Edith Piaf standard. Former Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones witnessed one of Calvi's gigs in Manchester and recommended her to Domino Records boss Lawrence Bell, who signed her to the label in December 2009. In 2006, she connected with multi-instrumentalist Mally Harpaz and later recruited drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood to perform her songs live. Through her studies and on her own, she developed a distinctive guitar-playing technique inspired by the impressionistic style of composers such as Ravel and Debussy as well as her early idol, Jimi Hendrix.Īfter graduating from Southampton with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003, Calvi worked in London as a guitar teacher, played in several bands, and recorded her own songs on an eight-track recorded in the attic of her parents' home. Calvi came out to her family at age 18, around the time she began studying violin and guitar at the University of Southampton. She started violin lessons at age six by age eight, she was playing guitar and began recording herself a few years later. Neither did her critical acclaim, which included multiple Mercury Prize nominations.īorn in London to an English mother and an Italian father, Calvi grew up in a music-loving family and listened to classical music and opera, as well as pop and rock, from an early age.
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As Calvi's music evolved and expanded to include projects such as scoring the TV series Peaky Blinders, the intensity of her work never wavered. Later, on 2018's Hunter, she adopted a looser, more vulnerable style as she challenged conventional notions of sexuality and gender identity. On early albums like 2011's Anna Calvi and 2013's One Breath, she used the formidable strength of her voice and guitar to express archetypal lust and heartache. A singer/songwriter with an operatic voice and virtuosic guitar skills, Anna Calvi makes powerful, passionate music influenced by flamenco, goth rock, and classical composers such as Ravel and Debussy.