“It’s like playing music with someone, when you’re watching [Cillian Murphy’s] performance and responding to it; it felt like our dialogue...” “That’s all I need really, it’s pretty basic!” With Shelby’s mental state in decline and as the violence ramps up, through the score Calvi wanted to give his character a subconscious feminine voice to further unnerve viewers. “The interesting thing about Tommy is that you fall in love with someone who is multifaceted, and not just one thing. There’s a lot of complexity to the character, and so I felt like I wanted to bring out some of this side of him – whatever feminine means, because to me, feminine in his case is his darkest and most twisted side. There’s a complexity to that that I find really interesting.” Season five saw Shelby cousin, Michael Gray, make power moves of his own, seemingly turning against his family. “The interesting thing is the idea about whether or not Tommy can trust him,” says Calvi. “There was one point where I was watching the episodes with Anthony and I said: ‘Is he telling the truth?’ And Anthony didn’t want to tell me whether he was, because he liked the idea of me not knowing either. The idea with the music was to leave that open, because even I don’t know. There’s a sense of unease about that.” As source material, season five has given Calvi a lot to play with. Complicated narratives, quotable one-liners, and cunning plans that would put Baldrick to shame play out against a smorgasbord of ostentatious ‘20s glamour and opulence. The gang are out of their depth in high society, trying to pass themselves off as upstanding members of the community, however, the inevitable pull of violence, power struggles, turf-wars and revenge are never far from their minds. “We all try and get away, but we never do,” warns the gravel-voiced head of the family, Polly. 20 Headliner
Before the programme aired, the ominous trailer gave audiences a peek at what was to come: Calvi and David Byrne song, Strange Weather (written by Keren Ann) perfectly accompanies slow-mo shots of the exquisitely-dressed gang, who are ready for another war. “I think when Anthony was trying to find the right song for the trailer, that song really stuck out for him because of the beauty and danger, romanticism and also something edgy, so I think it works really well,” she says, humbly. Calvi has often been described as a virtuoso guitarist, and is noted for her particular style of playing which involves hitting the strings in a circular motion. Her distinctive style permeates the entirety of the new series, complementing the rebellious rock and rock soundtrack synonymous with the Peaky world. Often using high levels of reverb, the score is all woozy electric guitars, dissonant chords and distorted riffs – and full on rock and roll – heightening the sense of unease and conflict amongst the characters. Key score moments include a beautiful melody juxtaposing a particularly violent (even for him) Arthur Shelby beatdown, and a tense assassination attempt where the guitar is strung out like the viewers’ nerves. “The characters have different musical scenes,” says Calvi. “For Tommy it is very much about trying to express his inner world, so I used my breaths a lot to underpin the idea that he may be saying one thing, but inside there’s a turmoil and an anxiety in him which he is trying to hide – that was an important one. I guess what was interesting was using the guitar to express the outward side of him where he gets reckless
and dangerous, but there are also elements of music which are actually moments of intimacy between Arthur and Tommy where it’s showing something more vulnerable – I guess more delicate, sad and beautiful. Those parts are actually the most fun to score because that’s when you really fall in love with a character, when you see them at their most vulnerable.” Peaky Blinders is consistently brilliant at marrying modern music to a period setting, using artists such as Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Davie Bowie, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, PJ Harvey, The White Stripes, and of course, Nick Cave in its soundtracks. What is it about these that makes them sound ‘Peaky’? Apparently, it’s all down to being a bit of an outsider. “Yeah, and a sense that the character and the music is an anti-hero,” she confirms. “It’s a sense of yearning and longing for something that maybe you’ll never get, but you’ll push yourself to the edge to get it. [The director] decides if it’s a ‘Peaky song,’ or ‘Peaky music’. Sometimes Anthony would ask me what I thought when they chose music for certain scenes, but I don’t get involved with choosing them.” With Peaky Blinders 5 now wrapped, would Calvi consider doing other score work in future? “Yeah, definitely; I loved doing it and I love the way it’s not about me. It’s about serving another purpose, and that’s really liberating – especially when you’re a solo artist and you’re always having to talk about yourself and think about your inner thoughts. It’s really nice to have another perspective; it’s freeing as a musician.” www.annacalvi.com