{"id":12568,"date":"2020-03-08T16:36:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T20:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=interviews&p=12568"},"modified":"2020-03-24T13:07:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T17:07:34","slug":"anna-calvi-hunter-hunted","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/interviews-panm360\/anna-calvi-hunter-hunted\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Calvi, Hunter, Hunted…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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<\/em>, Hunted<\/em>‘s rereadings are based on generally binary rhythms \u2013 while the artist herself isn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does our\ninterviewee think?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me,\u201d says\nCalvi, \u201cartistic expression is completely agender and that’s what I\nlike in music… when you make music you can escape that kind of\nconstraint. More and more artists, by the way, see it that way. As a\nwoman, in particular, I like to help change the perception of how\nwomen should behave. That’s one of the reasons why I subconsciously\nimmerse myself in music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched last Friday\n(March 6th), the album Hunted<\/em> is the sequel to Hunter<\/em>.\nOr maybe a response to Hunter<\/em>. What spirit presided over the\nconception of this simple, sweet, ethereal, refined recording?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I went on\ntour with Hunter<\/em>,\u201d she explains, \u201cI\nlistened to ethereal versions that I had recorded for myself. I found\ndifferent qualities, an intimacy and a sweetness that I liked. And so\nI hung on to the idea of releasing these songs, to offer another\nversion of who I am by capturing the intimacy and vulnerability in\nthem. Until then, these songs were private in my mind, I never\nthought they would be made public, or heard by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to\nexpectations, at least for the main interested party, these versions\nbecame public. Today, they shed a new light on Calvi’s work; this\ntime, distillation dominates. It should also be remembered that the\nmusician’s classical influences (Ravel, Debussy, Messiaen, etc.) had\nsometimes led her to cloak her rock songs in splendid arrangements.\nShe\u2019s taken a different tack of late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I did the\nHunter<\/em> album in 2018, I didn’t want to have the strings\npresent in One Breath<\/em>, the previous one. That decision was\nbased on a desire to be more rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, I guess. This time,\nit’s softer and cleaner. Who knows what will be on the next album?\nAll acoustic? I just like to change with each new project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunter… Hunted.\nSo what is this relationship between hunter and hunted? Between\nhuntress and hunted?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are, I\nguess, two sides of the same coin. Hunter<\/em> is powerful,\ngalvanizing, the hunter moves when he wants, where he wants. And I\nguess Hunted<\/em> is more about nuance, reflection, calm,\nvulnerability. In a way, I needed to give examples to young women who\nlive in one or the other of these dimensions. In one way or another,\nwe are all multi-faceted beings. Then opposites can meet, hunter and\nhunted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia Holter,\nCourtney Barnett, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Joe Talbot’s IDLES were\nall invited to sing on Hunted. Calvi recounts the experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen they agreed,\nI didn’t give them instructions, beyond the song to work on. When I\nlistened to the results, I had many surprises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had no idea\nwhat Julia was going to do on \u2018Swimming Pool\u2019, and she displayed\nthat artistic talent that always amazes me in her own work. She\ncreates things that are both unexpected and really beautiful, and\nshe’s an artist like that. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCharlotte is a\ngreat influence on me. I love the way she can sing quietly, you feel\na mixture of mystery and secrecy. When I composed \u2018Eden\u2019, I had\nCharlotte in mind, so I thought of her for this collaboration. A\ndream come true! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m a big fan of\nCourtney Barnett, amazing lyricist and guitarist. I became interested\nin her singing \u2018Don\u2019t Beat The Girl out of My Boy\u2019, which also\ninspired me to interpret this song in a fresh and different way. I’m\nreally happy with the way it happened. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As for Joe\nTalbot and IDLES, I’m also a fan, I love the energy and strength of\nhis voice. It was perfect in the context of the song \u2018Wish\u2019. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll the guests\nbrought something very unique to the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then can we\nsituate this album alongside the three previous ones \u2013 2011\u2019s\neponymous album, One Breath<\/em> in 2013, and Hunter<\/em> in\n2018?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat interests me\nis here and now,\u201d says Calvi. \u201cI’m not motivated by what I did\nbefore, I want to work on something else for the future. My new\nalbum, for example, I like to see it as a springboard to the music\nI’m writing for the next album or for Peaky Blinders<\/em>. I want\nto continue to pursue candidly what attracts me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After she did\nHunted<\/em>, did she take a step back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the end,\u201d\nshe says, \u201cit’s a private, intimate project that I share with trust\nwith my audience. It’s been very important to me! I still feel that\npersonal events in my life resonate in these songs, and in a way\nshape my artistic evolution. That’s why this album is particularly\nclose to my heart. A few years ago, I might not have shared this\nintimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In concert, Calvi\nsays, she\u2019ll exploit the Hunter<\/em>–Hunted<\/em> dichotomy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere 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!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n