Short burst of musical spice
Bringing back the powerhouse sound she’s known for, Anna Calvi recently released her new EP, Tommy. This new release comes after her 2020 album, Hunted.
This English singer-songwriter through the years has been nominated and won several UK awards for her footprint within the musical realm. With her 2011 self-titled debut album, released with Domino Records, Calvi has slowly risen just under the radar. Tommy features strong emotion and energy showcased across Calvi’s musical creations.
The opening track, “Ain’t No Grave” is truly bound to quicken the heart rate. The sound is the total embodiment of a climactic moment in an action movie. The chugging gritty bassline creates a musical heartbeat that’s profound and strong. The instrumentation plays right into the lyrics chatting “Ain’t no grave that can keep this body down.” A screeching electric guitar scorches through the background, breaking the pounding musical heartbeat. This is a great start to the EP, jump-starting the energy from the first drum beat.
Pulling a full 180, the second track “All The Tired Horses,” though still full of power, loses that intense, battle-ready energy. Right away the EP dips down ringing in a ballad after getting the listener ready to fight with “Ain’t No Grave.”
“Red Right Hand” is a wonderfully eerie mixture of punk, back roads country and rock-n-roll. Moments of mellow gentleness are disrupted by piercing guitar. When least expected, surges of epic over-the-top musical breakdowns take over. Raw and angry, from about the middle to the end, a lush ’60s organ charges in, soon joined by an orchestral building soundscape.
From the blood-burning energy, the EP began with, “ Burning Down” which closes the EP out with a hypnotizing calmness. Though the track is much more mellow than at the start, the record never loses the power within each song. Even here Calvi’s soft vocals still carry an urgency balanced with the slowly building musical rhythm.
Tommy is a short burst of energy and a rush of power that builds. Before it can truly take off, it’s sadly over. This is one short and not-so-sweet EP full of spice.
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