Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Richmond upon Thames, United Kingdom. Born in 1980, she is associated with alternative rock, art rock and indie rock, and is also tagged as indie, alternative, singer-songwriter and British. She performs as a solo artist and is also linked with Cheap Hotel.

Background and early development

Calvi is born Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi in London. She grows up in a musical household, with an English mother and an Italian father, and her father introduces her to a wide range of music. At 17, she decides against art school and studies music instead, beginning to develop her own collaborations and performance style.

Early collaborations and live work

In 2006, Calvi meets percussionist and harmonium player Mally Harpaz, and later brings in drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood. Her first live performances take place in and around London in late 2008 and 2009.

Recordings and releases

Her debut single, “Jezebel”, is a cover of the Edith Piaf song and appears in 2010. She attracts attention from Domino Records after a recommendation from former Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, and the label signs her. Brian Eno also becomes interested in her work after hearing her early unplugged recordings, known as The Attic Sessions, made on an 8-track in her parents’ attic.

Calvi records her debut album at Black Box Studios in France with producer Rob Ellis, using vintage analogue equipment. The album is released in 2011. Her second album, One Breath, is released in 2013 and is produced by John Congleton across Black Box Studios in France and Elmwood Recording Studios in Texas. Its first single is “Eliza”.

Recognition

Calvi receives three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Award nomination and a European Border Breakers Award.

Influences and style

Her influences include the classical composers Ravel and Debussy. Her music is described as “brooding melodramatic goth-pop”.