Hunter

Anna Calvi is not just consistent. She’s consistently excellent. <i>Hunter</i> is Calvi’s third album and the third to be shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. It might also be her very best work. A muscular, cinematic record of devastating guitar pop, it finds Calvi galvanised, inspired and in control of a measured fury. “As a Man” sets the agenda: a clear-eyed takedown of gender inequalities that also serves as a reminder of Calvi’s precocious guitar flair. Elsewhere, the Hockney-inspired “Swimming Pool” unfurls gloriously at its own luxurious pace and “Chain” sees an exultant Cavli give into her more primal urges.