Anna Calvi - Hunter Words Nick Levine
Since she broke through in 2010, Anna Calvi has amassed a loyal cult fanbase and won bucketloads of critical acclaim: both of her previous albums were nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. But now, the London singersongwriter is ready to embrace her queerness. “I want to go beyond gender,” she explained earlier this year when announcing this album. “I don’t want to have to choose between the male and female in me. I’m fighting against feeling like an outsider and trying to find a place that feels like home.”
Hunter, which Calvi calls a “queer, feminist” record, explores these themes right from opening track As a Man. With its Britpop-style guitar riffs and hypnotic drum beats, lead single Don’t Beat the Girl out of My Boy is a fantastic battle cry against old-fashioned and reductive gender norms. On Alpha, Calvi reclaims a word that’s traditionally attached to cisgender men who make a habit of swinging their dicks about. “I divide and conquer,” she sings assertively. Chain finds her playing about with sexual roles as she sighs, “I’ll be the boy, you be the girl, I’ll be the girl, you be the boy, I’ll be the girl.”
Musically, Hunter is a lush and atmospheric art-pop album underpinned by Calvi’s brilliant guitar playing. She’s fond of a grand cinematic flourish: Swimming Pool is a lush orchestral ballad, while Wish could feature on an indie horror film soundtrack. But Calvi’s music can be nimble, too: the hushed verses of Indies or Paradise have echoes of Kate Bush. Best of all is title track Hunter, a widescreen ballad which conjures up images of dry ice, motorbikes and ‘80s-style eyeliner. Its evocative opening line – “I dressed myself in leather, with flowers in my hair” – very much sets the tone for the album as a whole.
Though a couple of tracks probably run a minute too long, Hunter only rarely fails to hold your attention. Part of its charm is Calvi’s versatility: her music is capable of expanding from intimate to grand in a heartbeat, just as her voice can swell from a whisper to a wail. Factor in her clever and very pertinent lyrics and Hunter should convert a few more of us to the cult of Calvi.