Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi’s unique blend of dark atmospheric romantic pop has already caught the attention of London’s elite; flanked by Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons with whom she is recording in the studio, Mercury-Award-Nominated Dave Okumu of The Invisible with whom she recorded “No More Words”, and Lightspeed Champion who in NME has tipped Anna for success in 2010. Anna wrote the songs for the album in a dark underground basement using her trademark Telecaster guitar, vintage harmonium, and layers of choral like vocals and violins. Half Italian singer/guitarist Anna Calvi grew up being exposed to a multitude of genres of music by her music-loving father. She cites the classical composers Ravel and Debussy among her influences and her music has been described as "brooding melodramatic goth-pop." According to the Suzanne and I Songfacts, the intensely romantic nature of Calvi's songs, however, is "more abstract" than the one-dimensional eroticism of most pop, she told The Guardian: "Suzanne and I, for example, is about falling asleep, meeting someone in your dream, and never waking up. It's actually about death." Anna Calvi’s intense mesmerising live performances also showcase her fiercely provocative and mastery electric guitar work continue to win over new audiences. The show impressed John Kennedy (XFM) enough for him to write an X-Posure piece on the live show in December’s Dazed & Confused. Supremely backed by Daniel Maiden-Wood on drums and Mally Harpaz on percussion / harmonium. Anna has already supported The Golden Silvers (XL Recordings), The Invisible (Accidental Records), Laurel Collective (Domino Records), The Brute Chorus, Carina Round, Kaki King, and will be joining Johnny Flynn for a second UK tour. “I'm half Italian, brought up in London, but spent a lot of time in Rome. All my family play music. My influences are Django Reinhardt, John McLaughlin, David Bowie, Nick Cave, Velvet Underground, Roy Orbison. Although I love pop music my guitar playing and song writing is also heavily influenced by classical music, namely Messiaen, Ravel, and Debussy. I see my songs as mini films; I want to take the listener into another world for the space of a song. I always want to create a real sense of atmosphere. It is really important to me that the music dictates the story as much as the lyrics do - much like a film score. Both musically and visually I want to evoke a sense of passion, I'm interested in portraying romance which at the same time feels mysterious and sometimes dark; the songs often summon a sense of outside danger, of forces which you can't control, at the same time within a landscape which sounds beautiful.“ www.myspace.com/annacalvi