Anna Calvi | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 January 2011 | |||
Recorded | Autumn 2010 | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Length | 39:17 | |||
Label | Domino | |||
Producer | Rob Ellis, Anna Calvi | |||
Anna Calvi chronology | ||||
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Singles from Anna Calvi | ||||
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Anna Calvi is the debut album of British singer-songwriter Anna Calvi, released on 14 January 2011, by Domino Records. [1] [2] In Autumn, 2010, Calvi entered Black Box studio in France with producer Rob Ellis [3] and, using vintage analogue equipment, created "a velvet Wall of Sound that justified the hype in the buildup to its 2011 release." [4] The album peaked at No. 40 in the UK Album Charts [5] reached No. 17 in France, [6] and entered several European charts. The album has been nominated for the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize.
The debut album's material had been written in Anna Calvi's parents' attic, using eight-track equipment. Of Rob Ellis, best known for his work with PJ Harvey, she said:
He’s old-school rock‘n roll… you know, 'Hit the drums harder!' Which I love. We both share a love of classical music...he loves the same composers as I do. So I didn’t have to explain what I meant when I said that I wanted I wanted a guitar or a shaker to sound like an orchestra. It was great to find someone who understood. [7]
Calvi herself said she was proud with the album and picked out two songs where she felt she'd got close to what she ultimately wanted to achieve: "Love Won’t Be Leaving" (noted for microscopic sound detailisation) and "The Devil". "I see music very visually. And I want the music itself to express the story as much, if not more, than the lyrics. I think I achieved that on Love Won’t Be Leaving," she commented on the former. As for the latter, "It’s a good example of how I wanted to make the guitar sound like another instrument. I wanted the middle-section to sound like the strings on a Hitchcock soundtrack. It crescendos towards an explosion, but in a real and honest way. It's not about bravado," she added. [7]
"Blackout" with the cover of Surrender (classic Neapolitan song, originally Torna a Surriento, adapted for Elvis Presley in 1961 by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, with lyrics by Claude Aveling) was released as the first single from the album on 21 March 2011 [8] and was debuted on Pitchfork in the US. [9] "Desire" was the second single (backed with a reworking of Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc") and was released on 20 June 2011. The track was available on 7" (RUG412) and via digital download (RUG412D). [10] "Suzanne & I" (backed with the cover of the Shirelles "Baby It's You") was released as the third single from the album on 12 September 2011.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10 [11] |
Metacritic | 80/100 [12] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Evening Standard | [13] |
Financial Times | [14] |
The Guardian | [15] |
The Irish Times | [16] |
Mojo | [17] |
NME | 9/10 [18] |
Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [19] |
Q | [20] |
Uncut | [21] |
Upon its release, Anna Calvi received generally positive reviews from music critics. Aggregating website AnyDecentMusic? reports a score of 7.6 based on 29 professional reviews. [11]
Reviewer Eamonn Seoige (IHeart AU), called the album "fully-formed and... an instantly engaging body of work", argued that it's "key strength is honest, raw power." Describing Calvi's songs as "poetic, free-flowing, often incorporating multiple styles that frame her distinctive and kaleidoscopic vocal range," he added: "A gifted musician, possessor of a unique voice and writer of inimitable songs, Calvi is already primed for greatness." [22] Matt James of PopMatters described Calvi as "eternally glamorous, but perennially doomed nightclub torch-song singer with a skeleton army in their closet" and her debut, never "afraid to be fantastical, striking," as "rich and strange". [23] NME called the debut "perhaps the first great record of 2011." [18] According to Jon O'Brien of AllMusic, this "ambitious and always intriguing debut... heralds the arrival of a unique and inventive addition to the plethora of U.K. female singer/songwriters." [1]
Mojo placed the album at number 8 on its list of "Top 50 albums of 2011." [24]
All tracks are written by Anna Calvi.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Rider to the Sea" | 2:40 |
2. | "No More Words" | 3:51 |
3. | "Desire" | 3:51 |
4. | "Suzanne & I" | 4:11 |
5. | "First We Kiss" | 3:05 |
6. | "The Devil" | 4:34 |
7. | "Blackout" | 4:05 |
8. | "I'll Be Your Man" | 3:10 |
9. | "Morning Light" | 4:13 |
10. | "Love Won't Be Leaving" | 5:37 |
Technical personnel
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [25] | 33 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [26] | 9 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [27] | 36 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [28] | 68 |
French Albums (SNEP) [29] | 17 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [30] | 70 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [31] | 72 |
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA) [32] | 7 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [33] | 93 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [34] | 66 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [35] | 55 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [36] | 40 |
UK Albums (OCC) [37] | 40 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [38] | 3 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [39] | 42 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
France | — | 35,000 [40] |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | 170,000 [41] |
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