Anna Calvi announces new EP and shares 'God's Lonely Man' featuring Iggy Pop • GRIMM Gent

At the end of last year, Anna Calvi returned with a beautiful cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See A Darkness” performed with Perfume Genius. Now, Calvi announced a new EP Is This All There Is? will be coming on March 20^th which features three further legendary collaborations including Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson and The National’s Matt Berninger.

On the EP’s electrifying opening song “God’s Lonely Man” – also shared, Calvi turns to 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.

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.

Tracklisting:

1.     God’s Lonely Man (feat. Iggy Pop)
2.     I See A Darkness (feat. Perfume Genius)
3.     Computer Love (feat. Laurie Anderson)
4.     Is This All There Is? (feat Matt Berninger)

Is This All There Is? is available to pre-order on exclusive red vinyl, standard vinyl. CD and digitally. Pre-order: DomMart | Digital

For her three albums to date, each its own dark-inked essay in turbulence and drama, Anna Calvi has been shortlisted three times for the Mercury Music Prize, nominated for a BRIT Award, received praise from the highest quarters and established herself as an artist fearless of examining identity and passion. With Is This All There Is? and what comes next in the trilogy, Anna Calvi intends to probe a little deeper into the human condition as she signs off: “I love to create cinema with pure sound. The further I explore, the more curious I become. I want to see how far I can go, and I always find myself asking: Is this all there is?”

Additionally, Calvi will be releasing a new song on War Child’s collaborative new album HELP(2); “Sunday Light” also features Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell, Nilüfer Yanya and Dove Ellis. HELP(2) will be released on March 6^th and more information can be found here.

Anna Calvi has continued to write on her Carving Silver In Strange Weather Substack – you can read her second chapter series The Art of The Duet here.