Anna Calvi go off to a cold start on the Sunday afternoon of Secret Garden Party, launching two songs into her set before taking the time to introduce herself or even acknowledge her audience. Full of musical complexity and interesting alternative sounds, Anna plays to a medium-sized crowd accompanied by a multi-faceted female accomplice who skilfully pushes the boat out with a range of percussion and an accordian-like instrument I hadn’t ever seen before.

With lungs like a luxurious modern-day siren, it’s very much evident that Anna is extremely talented, but in the festival environment, I can’t say that she was moving peple. Comparing the beauty’s performance with Beans On Toast’s on the same stage the day before (Beans being on earlier, perhaps making it a more difficult slot in his case), the well-sized audience just didn’t seem to engage with Anna very well. People came and went, watched with mild enthusiasm for a few moments, some for the entire set, but they just didn’t look invigorated by Anna.

The music is really great, but I’d be interested to see Anna in a gig environment rather than a festival one. I wasn’t convinced by her stage presence or her performance on this occasion, but here is a talented artist, bursting with potential, so let’s hope everything is on its way up now for Anna, and that she’ll get the hang of engaging festival audiences by next season.