Anna Calvi - Hunter


Anna Calvi
Hunter
2018
Spotify

Anna Calvi may not be a name you have heard before, I know I had not before I listened to this record. That doesn't mean to say that she has flown under the radar, because the British guitar virtuoso has certainly been front of mind for some. Hunter however is her first record in five years and the first to truly deelve into her ideas on gender, love and sexuality. "As a Man" leads off the album with questions about identity and what it really means. It sets the stage for a choatic beauty that permeates the entire album. It isn't "guitar rock" like I was expecting, instead it's far more of a St. Vincent style where the guitar is there waiting to melt your face off, but only if the song calls for it. Anna Calvi has that same pent up rage and it comes through on songs like "Indies of Paradise". The guitar is also unleashed in all it's fury on this track, blazing skill pumping through mad distortion. It feels like how a modern rock sound should sound, not a la Greta Van Fleet trying to rekindle some kind of former rock glory. The diversity on this album is just staggering. One moment she has you full rocking out and the next you are floating on a cloud towards some kind of distance paradise. There is this palpable carnal nature to this album, but it's not indulgent, just raw and sticky.

"Chain" is this epic piece starting with only vocals than exploding into psychedelic fervor. She yells throughout the track "you be the boy I'll be the girl, I'll be the boy you'll be the girl" as the song descends into it's jam outro. This record really cooks and would be for anyone who enjoys something new and inventive. This record doesn't rely on what's worked before, instead it creates something new all for itself. I like that, and I really like Hunter. 

8.5 out of 10

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