Yolanda, the debut album by experimental UK singer-songwriter, guitarist, and loop-maker Emma Hunter is an album steeped in Latin culture, religion and history, the widescreen tales of love and loss are uniquely Emma’s yet with an appeal to fans of stars such as Anna Calvi, Sharon Van Etten and PJ Harvey.

Emma now joins us to talk about the inspiration of one of those musicians, Anna Calvi.

CINEMATIC VIBE

I first discovered Anna Calvi at End Of The Road Festival in 2012. I was struck by her cinematic vibe but also by her incredible guitar playing. There was no bass, but that didn’t matter, there was such a huge range to what she played on the guitar, accompanied by intricate, deep drums and additional, minimal instrumentation which added atmosphere, but was not so sonically a part of it all. It was at a time in my life where I felt empty: longing for a baby that wouldn’t arrive and longing to feel fulfilled by music and trying to find a voice for my embryonic new sound.

I knew I wanted to explore flamenco and south Italian music and blend it with a vintage 1950s sound. Seeing Anna, brought it all to life in my head. She was the missing piece in me finding my own sound, but also in finding my own voice. Clearly shy in between songs, she seemed to somehow become possessed by the feel of the music, that really resonated with me, that feeling of losing yourself on stage, being your truest self, ironically it not being a performance at all when you really feel like you are in the song.

SUZANNE & I

Another thing that struck me was her song Suzanne And I. There are so few songs out there that are so clearly about queer love and it really struck a chord, that she was prepared to be brave, bold and honest. It later gave me the inspiration to write my songs Nightingale and Love Is Not A Choice for my album Yolanda.

She has written other songs, such as Don’t Beat The Girl Out Of My Boy which explore gender identity. She is not afraid to explore themes of identity and what it is to be human – the older I get and the more complicated life gets as I approach a divorce, the more I lean into her music to make sense of everything.

DESIRE – AND HIDE

Her song Desire was a big inspiration for writing my song Hide. There are so few songs written from a woman’s perspective about sexuality and sensuality, about how we can all experience a sense of yearning and lust. Her operatic voice, powerful at times and yet tender at others really helped to show that. It also shows how brilliant she is at building and structuring a song. The song ends with a crescendo of layers and a sped up vocal with pitch change. It’s a perfect song.  

SWIMMING POOL

Anna has synesthesia and hears music when she sees a painting, I have it in a similar way and I also see an entire film in my mind when I write or hear a song. Her song Swimming Pool genuinely makes me imagine a pool, flickering in the sunlight. It’s inspired by David Hockney’s Swimming Pool paintings. Her music is so brilliantly atmospheric and textured, so full of feeling and yet structure, complexities and space and all with brilliant melodies. The guitar playing is on an entirely different level but I love her the most when I walk through London, when I drive in my car, when I feel I can trust the passion and love that pours through her music. She creates the soundtrack to knowing that loving and feeling alive is always worth the risk.

Our thanks to Emma for a fascinating insight into the Anna Calvi influence on her music.

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

Emma Hunter: Website

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