Anna Calvi – One Breathe (Domino)

There’s a whole heap of attention currently focussed on Anna Calvi; her debut album of 2011 was a minor commercial success that developed momentum thanks in part to a deserved Mercury nomination. Consequently, there has been much expectation that this, her follow up, might catapult her into, or at least close to, the mainstream. While it is debatable that an artist as musically uncompromising as Calvi will get that far, there’s little doubt that she’ll be sticking around for a good while longer, in no small part due to her striking visual aesthetic, played up to good effect on the silvertoned artwork, featuring a close up that draws you to her heavily applied eyeliner.

Vocally, Calvi is arresting; from the whispered sounds of ‘Piece by Piece’ to the grunge of ‘Love of My Life’, she’s perfectly capable of doing what it takes to make a song stand out, although there are the occasional lapses into indecipherable moaning, a particularly modern pop trait. But her voice, as well as an outlet for her strong lyrics, is an instrument as important as the guitar that she plays very inventively.

One Breath features many unexpected, almost invariably welcome musical flourishes and departures, such as the arpeggio guitar work on ‘Eliza’, and the programmed drums and sharply distorted guitar on ‘Piece By Piece’. With the help of producer John Congleton, there is rarely a dull moment, the fat all but stripped away, leaving a lean yet orchestral sound that demands the album to be listened as a whole; from the errie, almost spaghetti western overtones (that prevailed on her debut) that introduce the beguiling ‘Sing To Me’, through to the cathedralesque vocal work on closer, ‘Bridge’.

While sitting comfortably within the templates of sounds she drew up with her debut album, her pallete has expanded; this is a more produced affair, lovingly crafted, and yet full of space and air that enable the songs to breathe and expire… As Calvi has said about the name of the album: “One Breath is the moment before you’ve got to open yourself up, and it’s about how terrifying that is. It’s scary and it’s thrilling. It’s also full of hope, because whatever has to happen hasn’t happened yet.”

A particular highlight? ‘Carry Me Over’, an unassuming epic that drives along at an easy pace overlayed with foreboding strings and orchestration that recalls The Beatles Sgt Pepper period no less!

The dramatic gothic overtones remain intact on One Breath, the musical journey an engrossing, rollercoaster ride between those two emotions; hope and terror.

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