On Thursday 17th February I met my friend Dan for beers and pizza in the restaurant opposite my flat. After this week, Dan wont have another day off for six months – he’ll be supporting Mumford & Sons* at Dingwalls in Camden, then off to New York, Canada and SxSW; drumming for the exciting and original Anna Calvi.
Dan and Anna originally met through a mutual friend at a jazz jam evening while Anna was working as a session guitarist, then in 2008 Dan joined the band and since the press in the UK really exploded over the past two months he’s barely had a minutes peace. I can’t imagine its going to get any quieter after the band film for an appearance on Jools Holland in April – the right of passage into the British music scene.
The first thing that struck me was the level of musicianship on the album, you are all incredibly talented players; how much of the writing process involves the band?
Anna and I wrote Moulinette* together, but other than that when Anna’s writing she tends to lock herself away and then brings the skeleton of the song to the rest of the band, and we then play around it and … sort of form ourselves around the foundation. But Anna always has a very clear image of the final sound and feel of the song.
I was going to say that the album has a PJ Harvey vibe, but I think that’s too easy a comparison; so I’m going with Nick Cave meets Jeff Buckley, how would you describe it?
Well Rob Ellis, our producer, is also PJ Harvey’s producer so that makes it easier for critics to jump to that comparison… I want to say opera inspired, but without that conjuring up images of Queen or Meatloaf... [Like how on MySpace you can choose Melodramatic Popular Song as your genre?] Yeah, I think our official online genre is currently tango. So I think I'm just going to say tango. Its got a really raw, lo-fi sound live.
Yeah, listening to it I could imagine how you could really let rip live. Do you find you have to adjust the amount of thrashing depending on the rest of the bands on the bill? Or the type of gig it is?
Yes definitely. But we all enjoy the challenge of playing quietly, that feeling of restraint can be tricky but fun. We’re more popular in France that we are over here* so we get booked to do quite a lot of corporate gigs there, and those can change how we play. For example one time we were playing at this corporate thing for Gucci in Paris and I could see Jessica Alba watching me play. [Starstruck?] Totally! I was getting over this flu thing and she came up to speak to me afterwards. So not only was I probably making a dick of myself by trying to do the opposite, but I was also struggling not to cough all over her. Not my best moment.
Ok, most importantly, (I’ve been asked to ask you this)… Bourbons or custard creams?
Bourbons. [No hesitation there.] No way. Custard creams are too milky. My Nan always boubons and I just used to stuff my face; a short, fat ginger kid screaming “More bourbons!” I’m just going to leave you with that image.
The album is a beautiful and cryptically personal route through Anna’s mind, creating an ethereal world through tight, technical interplay and powerful imagery. It only features ten tracks and I was left unsettled (in the best possible way) and eager for more. I’m sticking with my Jeff Buckley meets Nick Cave comparison for the drama and almost creepy control of Cave, and the reverb soaked intricate guitar work of Buckley. I also thought I spied a Roy Orbsion reference in the track Desire… who knows?
If you haven’t already then I strongly recommend listening to Moulinette, First We Kiss and Rider To The Sea.
* Ben Lovett from Mumford & Sons is a friend of the band’s and temporarily produced demos for them in his studio, but none of the recordings were ever released.
*Moulinette is the B-side of Anna Calvi’s first single Jezebel which itself is actually an Edith Piaf cover; setting the dramatic tone of the band’s nature, seen in their album artwork, and live performances.
*Anna Calvi reached number seven in the French album charts.
