Anna Pancaldi ticks off another country

This time, and with a new release just out, it’s a little closer to home.

To be more precise Germany.

“I’ve just got back from a tour there,” she tells me, “and it went so well. We took places like Cologne and Lubeck where the audiences were just fantastic again.

“They really like my music, which is why I wanted to go back and spend more time there, and I’m so glad I did.”

Already established as one of the UK’s most promising new singer-songwriters, last year’s Sweet Charity EP garnered overwhelming support from BBC 6 Music and Radio 2.

Online, the tracks were picked up by Line of Best Fit, and featured on New Music Friday as well as a number of other official playlists, resulting in over 1.5 million streams on Spotify last year.

All of this, fanning the flames of a lengthy UK tour including four sold out London shows.

The summer months also kept her busy, with live performances including Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party and Cambridge Folk Festival. She also supported Prides, Hooverphonic, Bryde, Seafret, Jake Isaac on his European tour and most recently, John Mayer’s and David Ryan Harris.

It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and a hunch Anna took on trying out her music on audiences across the Atlantic.

She says: “I did gigs in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville back in 2016 and even got the chance to play live on CBS Television. It was absolutely incredible.

“What was really encouraging was playing venues where nobody knew who I was and still getting the place packed.

“Last year I went back to build on that initial success. I was in LA for three months in all, showcasing for various labels and publishers, and excitingly getting my first deal with an LA label.”

Born in Maldon, at the age of 12 Anna and her family moved to South Africa for her dad’s work and it was there that she first dabbled with music, taking her “tiny” guitar to the beach where she would tentatively write songs.

Moving back to England at 15, Anna enrolled at the Colchester Institute where she took a music diploma, but it wasn’t until she took nine months out travelling that her musical career really got going.

Starting off in New Zealand, she travelled to Nepal and Hong Kong, as well as the US and back to South Africa.

At the end of the trip she relocated to London to kickstart her career.

Still based in the city, she began pretty well with 2015’s Black Tears, which made number six in the iTunes singer-songwriter charts, and Anna followed up with one of her songs being used on an advert for Levi’s jeans.

Before Sweet Charity, written for her sister, Anna released another EP, Dear Joey, dedicated to her brother.

“I wanted them to be named after my siblings,” she explains, “because they mean so much for me. They’re like letters to them really.

“The songs had been around for a little while but I was just waiting for the right time to release them.”

Now she’s back with new music, this time taking a different creative direction.

What I’ve Become is the first track from a larger project due for release at the end of the year and it’s a distinctive, statement of intent. Swapping her acoustic-roots for a fuller, indie-leaning pop sound, Anna has been showcasing her diversity and pure songwriting aptitude in her own distinctive way, maintaining the raw emotion she’s become so well known for, with a bold, gritty indie sound.

She adds: “What I’ve Become is the beginning of an exploration of the electric guitar for me. It has inspired new melodies, songs and it’s journey I am finding great company.

“I’m working with the same label Lenny Kravitz is on and in two weeks I’m back in the studio with producer Matt Ingram, who has worked with the likes of Laura Marling and Lianne La Havas. We’ve haven’t quite decided whether it’s going to be a mini album or another EP but I am eager to see where it continues to lead me and to go on sharing that progression with everyone.

“What’s really lovely for me is that I’m now a full time musician, making a living out of the career that I love and that’s probably the most important thing out of everything.

“Just being able to say that feels like a huge moves forwards for me.”

But there’s no resting on any music laurels for Anna.

“Not a chance,” she laughs. “I’m going back to LA because that’s where my manager is based and I’ve another European tour planned for later this year.”

And she’s also coming home.

“I try and get at least one gig back in Colchester,” she says finally, “because obviously that’s my home, and it’s really important to me.”

What I’ve Become is out now and for a chance to see Anna on home turf then pop along to Deja Brew in Lion Walk on July 5 when the singer/songwriter will be performing from 8pm as part of the venue’s on-going series of intimate acoustic gigs.

For more information on Anna’s continued adventures, including new releases, tours and gigs, go to annapancaldi.com