Hotly tipped songstress Anna Calvi’s debut is a subtle slab of wax. Mind you it should be, having taken a whopping three years to make. With the likes of Brian Eno, Nick Cave and Interpol singing – well, make that talking – the praises of her dark laments, the omens are good. On immediate contact, the Londoner’s sound seems to lie somewhere between Jeff Buckley and PJ Harvey, but after repeated listens, Ennio Morricone and Diamanda Galas influences (as well as the more malevolent side of 50s rock ‘n’ roll) also come to the fore, in what all told is a bewitching brew.
‘Desire’ is a wide-screen, epic tune that sizzles from start to finish, ‘Suzanne And I’ is a belter of a song that really shows off her deep croon and ‘Blackout’ is as menacing as it is mesmerizing. And there is an impressive silver screen sparkle to ‘Desire’. Oddly the album opener is weak by comparison: ‘Rider To The Sea’ is merely dull. Similarly, ‘Morning Light’ is a little too maudlin for this reviewer. On the whole though, Calvi’s self-titled debut is a fine, moody piece of work that generally manages to sound much more than the sum of its parts. Hey, if it’s good enough for old Nick, it’s good enough for the rest of us.