Anna Calvi To Play Birmingham Institute
Anna Calvi has released her eagerly anticipated second album One Breath following the success of her debut album. To celebrate, the former Mercury Music Prize nominee will embark on a UK tour this February, calling at The Institute Birmingham on Monday 10th.
In the two years since she released her self-titled debut, life has changed for Anna Calvi, and One Breath comes from a very different place. She wrote the first album over a long period of time, not knowing if anyone would ever even hear it, but made One Breath in a few short weeks, determined not to make it a replica.
She spent a year writing 30 or so songs in London, before travelling to Blackbox Studios in France to record a narrowed-down list. Daniel Maiden-Wood returned on drums, Mally Harpaz on percussion, and Massive Attack and Portishead-collaborator John Baggott joined for the first time on keyboards. The record was then mixed in Dallas, Texas, during a “bizarre” three weeks of near-isolation in a motel room. The 11 songs that make up One Breath take in a broad spectrum of reference points, from the call-and-response detail of West African music to the transformative conceptual ideas of composer John Adams, via Sing To Me, an homage to Maria Callas. This is an emotional journey through an expansive musical palette.
“Beautiful and candid, One Breath proves Anna Calvi has her fragilities. They just happen to be as captivating as her strengths” — Q Magazine, ****
ANNA CALVI PLAYS THE INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM ON MON 10TH FEBRUARY 2014. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.