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Live from London, her frail voice and almost timid tone contrast stunningly with the flamboyant character the singer-musician projects. Finally… this time, the contrast is less marked: taken mostly from Hunter, Hunted‘s rereadings are based on generally binary rhythms – while the artist herself isn’t entirely so! Following in the footsteps of influential musicians, lyricists and composers such as Janelle Monae, St.Vincent, Courtney Barnett and Christine and the Queens, Anna Calvi clears new territories for the feminine and revisits notions of gender.
What does our interviewee think?
“For me,” says Calvi, “artistic expression is completely agender and that’s what I like in music… when you make music you can escape that kind of constraint. More and more artists, by the way, see it that way. As a woman, in particular, I like to help change the perception of how women should behave. That’s one of the reasons why I subconsciously immerse myself in music.”
Launched last Friday (March 6th), the album Hunted is the sequel to Hunter. Or maybe a response to Hunter. What spirit presided over the conception of this simple, sweet, ethereal, refined recording?
“When I went on tour with Hunter,” she explains, “I listened to ethereal versions that I had recorded for myself. I found different qualities, an intimacy and a sweetness that I liked. And so I hung on to the idea of releasing these songs, to offer another version of who I am by capturing the intimacy and vulnerability in them. Until then, these songs were private in my mind, I never thought they would be made public, or heard by anyone.”
Contrary to expectations, at least for the main interested party, these versions became public. Today, they shed a new light on Calvi’s work; this time, distillation dominates. It should also be remembered that the musician’s classical influences (Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, etc.) had sometimes led her to cloak her rock songs in splendid arrangements. She’s taken a different tack of late.
“When I did the Hunter album in 2018, I didn’t want to have the strings present in One Breath, the previous one. That decision was based on a desire to be more rock ’n’ roll, I guess. This time, it’s softer and cleaner. Who knows what will be on the next album? All acoustic? I just like to change with each new project.”
Hunter… Hunted. So what is this relationship between hunter and hunted? Between huntress and hunted?
“They are, I guess, two sides of the same coin. Hunter is powerful, galvanizing, the hunter moves when he wants, where he wants. And I guess Hunted is more about nuance, reflection, calm, vulnerability. In a way, I needed to give examples to young women who live in one or the other of these dimensions. In one way or another, we are all multi-faceted beings. Then opposites can meet, hunter and hunted.”
Julia Holter, Courtney Barnett, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Joe Talbot’s IDLES were all invited to sing on Hunted. Calvi recounts the experience:
“When they agreed, I didn’t give them instructions, beyond the song to work on. When I listened to the results, I had many surprises.
“I had no idea what Julia was going to do on ‘Swimming Pool’, and she displayed that artistic talent that always amazes me in her own work. She creates things that are both unexpected and really beautiful, and she’s an artist like that.
“Charlotte is a great influence on me. I love the way she can sing quietly, you feel a mixture of mystery and secrecy. When I composed ‘Eden’, I had Charlotte in mind, so I thought of her for this collaboration. A dream come true!
“I’m a big fan of Courtney Barnett, amazing lyricist and guitarist. I became interested in her singing ‘Don’t Beat The Girl out of My Boy’, which also inspired me to interpret this song in a fresh and different way. I’m really happy with the way it happened.
“As for Joe Talbot and IDLES, I’m also a fan, I love the energy and strength of his voice. It was perfect in the context of the song ‘Wish’.
“All the guests brought something very unique to the songs.”
How then can we situate this album alongside the three previous ones – 2011’s eponymous album, One Breath in 2013, and Hunter in 2018?
“What interests me is here and now,” says Calvi. “I’m not motivated by what I did before, I want to work on something else for the future. My new album, for example, I like to see it as a springboard to the music I’m writing for the next album or for Peaky Blinders. I want to continue to pursue candidly what attracts me.”
After she did Hunted, did she take a step back?
“In the end,” she says, “it’s a private, intimate project that I share with trust with my audience. It’s been very important to me! I still feel that personal events in my life resonate in these songs, and in a way shape my artistic evolution. That’s why this album is particularly close to my heart. A few years ago, I might not have shared this intimacy.”
In concert, Calvi says, she’ll exploit the Hunter–Hunted dichotomy:
“There will be three of us on stage, some songs will be calm and intimate, others will be wild and strong. The idea is to make a whole journey, to express the different moods, feelings and thoughts. All these aspects of existence are expressed through my show, so that we can get lost in it during the performance. It is a wide spectrum of colours and emotions. It corresponds to the atmosphere of the new record, but we can also make a lot of noise!”
