Later this week, the UK powerhouse Anna Calvi will release Is This All There Is?, a new EP of duets. We've already heard her cover Bonnie "Prince" Billy's "I See A Darkness" with Perfume Genius, and we've posted her Iggy Pop collab "God's Lonely Man." There's a song with Laurie Anderson on there, too. Today, Calvi shares the new EP's title track, on which she joins forces with the National leader Matt Berninger.
We already knew that Matt Berninger loves a duet. Just recently, he got together with Rosanne Cash to cover the Velvet Underground's "Who Loves The Sun"; their version is the theme for the new Hulu show Sunny Nights. "Is This All Their Is?" is a big, evocative synth-rock howler, and I like how it uses the contrast between Calvi and Berninger's voices. Calvi originally wrote the song for the 2021 Joanna Hogg film The Souvenir Part II, but the song hasn't come out until now. Here's what Calvi says about it:
This song is about the bravery it takes to hope. It’s the willingness to ask questions, even when knowing you’ll never get a definitive answer...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.
Check it out below.
The Is This All There Is? EP is out 3/20 on Domino.
