Anna Calvi & Arrows of Love Barfly, London 16/12/10
5/5
By: Yousif Nur
Much like the broken economies of the world, rock music seems to have taken a sucker punch to the stomach over the past few years, winding it of any substance or big hitting names. Below the rock behemoths like Muse, Biffy Clyro and the understandably on-the-up Pulled Apart By Horses, there’s little to pick from.
But what of those who are in their relative infancy, such as London's Arrows Of Love? Tonight the boisterous bunch are on for just five songs, though whether or not that’s down to them being the openers or because they burn brighter over a short amount of time is another matter entirely. Second song in, 'Prescriptions' has a wildly eccentric frontman losing himself amidst the crowd, avoiding all contact with both their eyes and their bodies, singing as though he’d memorised a medicine instruction pamphlet word for word and was delivering it with alacrity and aplomb. But it’s not all bombast and volume here - Arrows Of Love demonstrate some classical undertones with a slow build up and a crescendo of noise half way through 'The Knife', a promising merging of shoegaze sensibilities and inspired orchestral arrangements.
BBC's influential Sound of 2011 poll – which we can all shut up about now that Jessie J has won it – had Anna Calvi tipped for greatness this year, and indeed, those with a particular penchant for red wine, candlelit rooms and passion, desire and lust (as well as PJ Harvey and Nick Cave) ought to take note. Even Brian Eno is a fan of her quite remarkable guitar playing style. She has mentioned in interviews that she wants to play her instrument in a way that makes it sounds anything unlike a guitar, it being an instrument blessed with such versatility. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, this axe-virtuoso begins her set with a solitary solo that lasts nearly five minutes.
Calvi comes across as a shy personality with a huge voice, a very big and very powerful boom also possessed by the likes of Edith Piaf (who she deliberately nodded towards on her 'Jezebel' single). Tonight’s is a short set, but seemingly no-one in the room wants it to end - from start to finish one could honestly hear a pin drop, aside from moments when the audience show their appreciation in their droves via sore handclaps and whistles of approval.
Final song 'Love Won't Be Leaving' is a sumptuous number which goes through different textures and patterns of soft, loud and soft again, including some room for one of her trademark guitar solos. On stage she looks quite formidable, dominant even, but at the same time vulnerable because of that perceived, aforementioned shyness rearing its head again when asking softly for the soundman to turn her amp up. Like with the best front people throughout history, you get the impression of a heart and soul being laid on the line here. If you like dark, romantic music that yearns and lusts with extreme passion, consider yourself absolutely compelled to listen to Anna Calvi’s very, very special talent.
Artists in this article: Anna Calvi, Arrows of Love
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