One Breath is a bold and confident record that begins an exciting new chapter in Anna Calvi’s career. Produced by John Congleton in Blackbox Studios, France and mixed in Dallas, Texas, USA, One Breath was written in a year and recorded over a few intense weeks. One Breath is a more personal record than its Mercury and Brit nominated predecessor. Reflective and vulnerable, it strikes a balance between optimism and despair, beauty and ugliness. The fiery elements of Anna’s debut remain, but One Breath is more instinctive and urgent, revealing a wider spectrum of textures and emotion...

One Breath is Anna Calvi's follow up album to her 2011 self-titled release Anna Calvi. I was looking forward to seeing how Calvi had matured since her last album, which personally I wasn't overly struck by.

The three aspects of her previous album that I did appreciate (that she sounds a little like Chrissie Hynde; that there's a James Bond-esque theme to some of her tracks; and that she has a beautiful voice when she's not warbling all over the place) are even more in evidence in this much more polished offering.

While I wouldn't say I was a total convert to her music, I have to admit that that she's matured well over the previous two years and I quite enjoyed this album, especially the tracks 'Eliza'; 'Sing To Me'; 'Tristan'; 'One Breath'; and 'Bleed Into Me'. There's more of a mix in musical styles here and Calvi experiments by venturing into realms that maybe out of her comfort zone - which pays off dividends in some of her performances.

The album contains 11 tracks and lasts for approximately 40 mins.

8

Nick Smithson