Mercury nominees 2014: Anna Calvi

Who: Softly spoken and painfully shy, Calvi is the guitar virtuoso who transforms into a dynamic, dramatic frontwoman; her theatrical, neo-operatic vocal style is comparable to Jeff Buckley, Martha Wainwright or PJ Harvey, the latter of which is the only artist ever to win the Mercury prize twice, which could work in Calvi’s favour. Originally from Twickenham, she is the child of two psychotherapists.

The album: One Breath

Previous releases to date:
2011 - Anna Calvi
2014 - Strange Weather EP

What we said: “Still touching on the themes of lust, love and death, her new material amps up the theatricality of passion and sadness, and abandons the Ennio Morricone-aping of her 2011 release in favour of more contemporary experimentation.”

What Anna Calvi said: “I suppose the year that I wrote [the album] was quite turbulent on a personal level. It’s … kind of … very thrilling to feel you’re out of control and don’t know what’s going to happen but it’s also scary … I think that becomes very apparent when someone passes away because, suddenly, everything you thought was your reality changes.”

Mercury-friendly accolades: Calvi’s work to date is not just commercially successful – her last album sold upwards of 170,000 copies - but it is also critically celebrated. Mercury nominated for her debut in 2011, Calvi was listed in the BBC Sound of 2011 poll, the British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards in 2011, and has been revered ever since – even by the unshakable Nick Cave and Brian Eno. Her influences are varied, from composers such as Messiaen, Ravel and Debussy, to Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix and flamenco dancers.

Likelihood of winning: One Breath was not the album that defined the year, nor was it received at the time with shock or surprise – but nonetheless, her enigma and raw talent may be enough to sway the judges, if they were after a rather stoic, safe winner. At the time of writing, Ladbrokes odds are 16/1 on Calvi winning this year.

Stream the album: