Annie * Anniemal (679) 9+
Let’s hope Annie marks the beginning of a new era where vapid, stupid mouthpieces for corporate focus group songwriting teams are replaced by hip, educated, cosmopolitan pop stars who write their own music and are actually good. Let’s not talk of Kylie Minogue, who isn’t fit to carry Annie’s gear. While many pop stars end their story in tragedy, few begin with it. It almost feels like cheating to provide the backstory, because the songs really have enough strength and depth not to need the context. At any rate, Anne Lilia Berge-Strand from Norway collaborated with boyfriend and producer Tore Korknes (Erot) on the great electro-dub single, “The Greatest Hit” in 1999. Before they had a chance to write an album, he died of heart complications at the age of 23. The fact that Annie was able to go on to write such an infectious, glistening album is moving, really.
Anniemal kicks off with the joyous “Bubble Gum.” The lyrics might be a sly putdown (“Hey Annie! Well, look at you! Is that a new boy stuck on your shoe?” “Oh no, oh no, you’ve got it all wrong / You think you’re chocolate but you’re chewing gum”), but the celebratory P-Funk squeaks and bleeps and deliberate pacing recall the glorious singles from the first Tom Tom Club album. The sentiments aren’t quite deep (“I don’t want to settle down, I just wanna have fun—I don’t want to settle down, I just wanna chew gum!”), but are certainly healthy for someone in their early 20s.
”Me Plus One” is another bouncy hit-to-be about a wannabe pop queen with some rapid-fire tongue-twister lyrics that will provide hours of entertainment decoding (”Mrs B, Mrs E, Mrs A-U-T, Mrs I, Mrs F-U-L, I’m gonna reach the top, I ain’t ever gonna stop and I’m sure gonna ring your bell!” PING! “Mrs D, Mrs I, Mrs F-F-I, Mrs C, Mrs U-L-T, if ever there’s a girl that can rock your world then that girl sure iss me- RIGHT!”). “Heartbeat” is another winner that makes you feel the palpable excitement and thrilling chemistry of a first encounter at a party. It might flow by unassumingly at first, but repeated listens reveal it as true genius.
“Always Too Late” features a stuttering beat, plucked strings and breathy chorus that resides somewhere between Missy Elliott, Gwen Stefani and grime. “No Easy Love” nearly whispers the sad lyrics to a melody that 80s Prince would have envied. The album is beautifully paced, with the aforementioned “The Greatest Hit” leading into the euphoric disco vamp, “Come Together.”
Now you experience the all-too rare panic of not wanting an album to end. Fortunately there is one more song, “My Best Friend,” directly addressing her deceased boyfriend. It’s the first overtly melancholy tune, and an appropriate wind-down, with a spare arrangement of a simple beat and a keyboard, as she sings, “Thought I saw you last night, looking at me. Thought I heard your voice calling for me.” Heart wrenching maybe, but it ends with the hopeful, “…there’s always someone out there.”
We’re out here, and we want to make Annie rich and happy.
