Anna Calvi has announced details of a new EP, Is This All There Is? - coming on March 20 -, alongside the release of the electrifying, 'God’s Lonely Man'. featuring Iggy Pop.
The EP’s opening song, ‘God’s Lonely Man’ sees Anna Calvi turn to punk icon Iggy Pop — the perfect character to embody the voice of her destructive internal monologue. “He’s disruptive, raw, and honest — a singular force. His presence was so perfect for the narrative of this song”. The track pulses with daring defiance, furious guitars alongside galvanising drums, the song stands as a rallying cry against emotional inertia and hopelessness.
The video – starring both Anna and Iggy – offers an intimate portrait of a real connection between two incredible musicians and performers. The video plays with stillness and wild energy, as both artists come together in communion. Each gesture they share, however subtle, contributes to a sense of shared transformation. As the pair sing out in unison “I wanna be somebody tonight”, they seem to combine into one electrifying force. The video is directed/produced by Luigi Calabrese and Dominic Easter, edited by Rianne White and shot in Miami.
Listen to ‘God’s Lonely Man’ on the Premier League playlist.
Is This All There Is? is the first instalment in a trilogy of records which explore identity as a metamorphosis, shaped and reshaped through the experience of falling in love. This was inspired by Calvi’s own perspective shift after becoming a parent. On the EP, Calvi dives into existential questions of modern existence: How do we reclaim intimacy? Is there something more elemental we can connect with? What does it mean to feel truly awake? “Having a child was so transformative it made me consider the possibility that everything in life could potentially shift, and that is scary but incredibly freeing. I didn’t want to take anything for granted any more. I want to exist in the best way for my child. I wanted to ask the most basic human question – is this all there is?”
Elsewhere on the EP, Calvi reimagines Kraftwerk’s classic ‘Computer Love’ with Laurie Anderson. With Anderson’s iconic voice at its centre and Calvi’s eerie choral arrangements creating space and shadow, it becomes a reflection on digital intimacy and emotional absence. Following her work scoring Peaky Blinders and composing an opera with visionary director Robert Wilson, the forthcoming EP plays like a cinematic soundscape — a four-song film arc populated by vivid characters. “Scoring the final two seasons of Peaky Blinders really altered how I create music. I always used to imagine my songs as mini films, but with this EP I wanted to explore a narrative which could exist throughout all the songs.”
Calvi has long surrounded herself with artists who operate on the edge of genre and expectation. She’s previously collaborated with David Byrne, Brian Eno, Marianne Faithfull, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Courtney Barnett, and Julia Holter — all artists who walk remarkable creative paths. “The opportunity to be in the same space as people you love is so inspiring,” she says. “To see how different people approach the same thing — it sharpens you. It’s thrilling.” Her collaborators on this EP — Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Perfume Genius, Matt Berninger — all share a singularity of vision. “They share a kind of subversive honesty,” Calvi notes. “They’re not trying to please anyone. They express exactly who they are.” On Is This All There Is? their voices become characters in the story, actors in the world she’s creating.
