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Happy 2 year anniversary Hunter My hunter years have been thrilling and scary and beautiful. I can’t wait to open a new chapter with you again

A post shared by Anna Calvi (@annacalvi) on Aug 31, 2020 at 5:19am PDT

Hunter is an apt name for an album so ferocious and primal as this one. Calvi said that she chose the title because she ‘hate[s] the fact that strong words about going into the world and taking what is yours are so male-gendered‘. This hatred is clear from the first track onward. In As a Man Calvi sings over a repetitive bass-line and war-like drums: ‘If I was a man in all but my body// Oh would I now understand you completely’.

It is an exploration of the still pervasive sentiment that Queen Elizabeth expressed when she defended her status as a female leader with the words ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king‘. Calvi said in a press release that: ‘If a woman wants to be powerful she’s expected to exhibit ‘male’ traits… the woman in the song is trying to understand a man by imagining becoming him, but as it progresses she asks the man to become more like her instead’.

She continues, ‘there hasn’t been enough effort for men to become more like women… Men are brought up believing that to be feminine is to be weak… both sexes need to be able to move to the middle of the spectrum’. This measured and interesting idea runs through the album, especially on the track Don’t Beat the Girl out of My Boy.

This song starts with a doo-doo chorus over upbeat guitar. It is a joyful celebration of gender non-binary ideals, a call to society to let the children be. To let boys cry and girls be bossy in the playground. Toward the end of the track Calvi sings ‘I shout out// Let us, be us’ and lets out a Kate-Bush-esque wail for a full 40 seconds. Her passion and pain toward the subject of gender is evident in her cry, and as a result its sound is enough to send shivers down anyones spine.

The album is a political piece of artistry. It remains as relevant now as it was two years ago, if not more so.

As nationwide music tours as we know them are likely to be put on hold until at least 2021, it’s the little guys who are getting hit the worst. Verge recently reported on a study from the Music Industry Research Association that pointed out the average working musician in the US overwhelmingly relies on touring as their primary source of income, and thankfully music distributors like Bandcamp have made impressive efforts to keep indie labels and artists afloat. But the touring business is a two-way street; let’s not forget that independent venues aren’t even afforded the revenue from online record sales.

Go to https://t.co/bg5xJBkjRV at 5pm BST TODAY to watch my conversation with the always-inspiring and genuine Joe from @idlesband, and more importantly donate to help support independent venues across the UK during this difficult time pic.twitter.com/U6fCdiz1Sv

— Anna Calvi (@annacalvi) May 25, 2020

Independent Venue Week is an initiative created in 2013 that celebrates the people who own, run, and work in independent music venues across the country. Given the state of live music this year, their work has become more vital than ever. In aid of a crowdfunder campaign they launched earlier this year, IVW are running ‘Take 5’: a series of online conversations between British musicians on their life in music, from early gigs, shows they’ve loved, venues they love and more widely how music has been such a positive influence in their lives.   Take 5’s inaugural session from last week (above) featured Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell and Calvi, the idea being that the series of conversations chains from one artist to the next. At the end of yesterday’s episode, Talbot revealed that in next week’s he would be talking to fellow Welshman James Cox. Comment your questions for the Crow’s frontman by 5pm today via the Twitter post embedded below.

James (@__CROWS) and I will talk about all the stuff next week. Please comment your questions for him below with #IVWTake5 and I’ll ask him them aggressively and we can get to the bottom of this. Get your questions in by 17:00 today. All is love. pic.twitter.com/9RJb0vr7IJ — I D L E S (@idlesband) May 26, 2020

Singer/songwriter and guitarist, Anna Calvi has been nominated for her third album, Hunter. She joins the likes of Amy Winehouse and Wolf Alice for having had all of her studio albums nominated for the award. Foals receive their third nomination for their fifth album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 and The 1975 try their luck for the second time for A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

With the U.K having a deep history with the genre, Punk leads the pack with the most nominations. Welsh musician Cate Le Bon is nominated for her fifth album, Reward and the Bristol based band Idels for their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Irish band Fontaines D.C. and London’s Black MIDI both receive nominations for their debuts, Dogrel and Schlagenheim respectively.

Representing British hip-hop Little Simz’ Grey Area, Slowthai’s Nothing Great About Britain and Dave’s critically acclaimed debut, PSYCHODRAMA have all been nominated. With national bookmakers currently giving PSYCHODRAMA as the favourite to win.

In alternative genres, London-based ‘wonky funk’ pioneer, Nao is nominated for her second studio album, Saturn whilst the 10-piece jazz collective, SEED Ensemble receive a nomination for their debut, Driftglass.

To assist with this year’s nominations, five new judges from various creative fields were added to the panel. BBC Radio 1 presenter and DJ, Annie Mac, VICE editorial director, Tshepo Mokoena and British singer/songwriters, Gaz Coombes, Jorja Smith and Stormzy joined the remaining seven judges to pick the best albums of the year.

The Mercury Prize Nominees are as follows:

Anna Calvi – Hunter

Black Midi – Schlagenheim

Cate Le Bon – Reward

Dave – Psychodrama

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1

Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Little Simz – Grey Area

Nao – Saturn

Seed Ensemble – Driftglass

Slowthai – Nothing Great About Britain

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships