Anna Calvi shares, 'Is This All There Is?' the title track from her forthcoming EP, out this Friday (March 20).
Originally written for Joanna Hogg’s film The Souvenir Part II – but previously not released, Calvi asked The National’s Matt Berninger to join her to create a spectacular new version. The song becomes an anthem of courage — the courage to believe there might be more. “This song is about the bravery it takes to hope,” Calvi says. “It’s the willingness to ask questions, even when knowing you’ll never get a definitive answer.”
Speaking further about working with Berninger, Calvi adds: “The tone of Matt’s voice has such an epic, almost ancient quality to it, which felt perfect for a song asking such a big existential question. We’re both searching for answers- together and yet somehow always apart, which I find beautiful. He brings an intimacy to the song that I couldn’t have imagined.”
Listen to ‘Is This all There Is?’ on Sport Playlists New Releases.
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?”
‘Is This All There Is?’ is the third song to be shared from the EP following the electrifying ‘God’s Lonely Man’ featuring Iggy Pop and Calvi’s exquisite duet with Perfume Genius on their ‘I See A Darkness’ cover. On the as of yet unheard fourth track, Calvi reimagines Kraftwerk’s classic ‘Computer Love’ alongside Laurie Anderson.
Following her work scoring Peaky Blinders and composing two operas 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 recently been confirmed to play Green Man festival in the summer, alongside support slots for David Byrne. She will also take part in the Barbican’s Marianne Faithfull tribute with the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Rufus Wainwright, Beth Orton and Samantha Morton.
