I first came across the name of newcomer Anna Calvi amidst cries of plagiarism, a little too much PJ Harvey/siouxsie su/etc, indeed on first listen of the song Jezebel I wasn't much impressed. Nothing catchy or new. But, I have never been known for a precise first impression.... A few months later, a friend was raving platitudes about this artist Anna Calvi and quickly placed his copy of her album in my possession when I did not agree. At first I started to give it some minutes while I worked away on the computer or other tasks, things that hasten to reduce the finer details of any music. The first two tracks slipped by unnoticed, but within a ...  Read the complete review

I thought I'd come across Anna Calvi for the first time when I was watching 'Later with Jools Holland' on TV last week but I was wrong. When I saw that yet another female singer songwriter was being introduced I wasn't hugely excited since there's a lot of these going around at the moment and they do tend to all sound the same but as soon as she started singing the intro on her song 'Desire' I realised that I was in for a pleasant surprise. This was a raw, quirky and gutsy sound not the bland overproduced forgettable trash that we are subjected to with depressing regularity these days. Her voice was unusually melodic in a dramatic way but at the same time ...  Read the complete review