Little norwegian stumplet (F)Annie once told me (and anyone else listening) that she thinks I think I'm chocolate, but actually I'm chewing gum. Popjusticers (surely a word fit for the dictionary by now) swooned and the world waited for her (and BWO) to be the next big pop thing. Exhale slowly because nothing really happened. But Annie's back - and probably learned that chocolate will actually help you pile on the pounds while gum will clean your teeth and stop you snacking...
It's been a rather good year for ace pop albums (Infernal, Jason Mraz, McFly, Madonna), very decent pop albums (Alanis, Miley, Ultraviolet Sound, Martin) and pop albums that can be enjoyed when you are feeling a bit charitable (i'm too kind to mention the guilty). Annie's Don't Stop fits in somewhere between very decent and ace (but closer to ace than decent actually). The lead off single represents pretty much what Annie is about. Eclectic music, her distinct voice and a catchy hook. All about a male female best friend arrangement, i'm assuming from the "subtle" lyrics that la girlfriend of the bloke ain't too happy about this little dalliance. Actually that could work perfectly in Secret Diary of a Call Girl... How to describe the rest of the tunes on the album? Well, it's apt that Annie once sang about her greatest hit because this album seems to be a tribute to the greatest hits/sounds of others all sprayed with Annie's own inimitable scent. My Love Is Better is a great Girls Aloud tune courtesy of Xenomania, with some delicious Franz Ferdinand guitar spunking up the backside of the chorus. Oh how i want to see Nicola in a video for this song. The chorus is a smorgasboard of rhyming couplets and how she's better wetter and wearing superior shoes. Really you can't go wrong with some bonkers pop set to a deliriously heady musical back drop can you? Sweet does exactly what it says on the tin. There's guitar, drums, and sliding synthy sound effects - it's a kylie sounding hit waiting to happen, and actually the vocals are incredibly, well, sweet in the chorus. Just lovely. On Loco rhyming "loco" with "no go" and "go go" is a bit dubious, but the song is just another in a line of made for popjustice radio hits so it's hard to get too annoyed (though I am raising an eyebrow!)
Bad Times reminds me of that vibe in Mel C's I Turn To You - almost that Ibiza-esque chill out groove that runs through what is actually a fairly frenetic and energetic dance tune. It's hard not to imagine playing loud on a beach in the fading summer sun swirling around engrossed in the sounds around you. It gets a bit melancholy then with the lost child hood friend song of Marie Cherie which comes across as a more morose Supernatural (Madonna b-side) and When The Night is a lovely midtempo ballad that would actually work very well as a Christmas single. Annie excels at pushing her sadness through uplifting music - she did it to a degree on Anniemal, but explores it further here and it's actually quite a strength. Heaven and Hell isn't the Geri Halliwell song, but this has influences of sixties pop running through it - not in that ubiquitous Duffy was but just embracing the light fluffy melodies that bounced around the charts so regularly back then. It's quite gorgeous.
I've left my favourite two songs until the end of this review. What Do You Want is just the most insane annoying song i've heard for a while - i tells ya if someone one plays this to you while you've got a hangover, you are not going to be best pleased. It's not only the refrain, it's the incessant music drum beat and sounds that permeate the tune. Like Girls Aloud Biology it's a number of different songs in one (though lets be clear, it's not a patch on that four minutes of amazingness) and so utterly insane that I can't stop playing it. However, it's I Can't Let Go that has me hooked. There's some male vocalist trading off with Annie and the song has some urgent synths, elements of Deborah Harry and B-52s mixed with Fuzzbox. It is part pop part rock part theatre and part scary. I like it. A lot.
So there you have it. Annie is back. And actually very very good indeed. I was going to review Lady BlahBlah and explain why I called her that within this post (it's all to do with how boring it is to hear people go "oh it's the album madonna should've made). But i honestly can't be bothered. The album is ok - it's part Gwen Stefani, part Fergie and part Rihanna. I find it hard to get excited over that. And i'd have been devastated if Madonna came back with Just Dance over Four Minutes. Aaron most closely mirrors my thoughts on the album (though scientifically is about 21% more enthusiastic than I would have been) so I'll just link to that instead. On his 3 month bloggiversary! Hurrah!
Potential singles: I Know Your Girlfriend Hates Me; My Love is Better; Bad Times; I Can't Let Go; When The Night
It's been a rather good year for ace pop albums (Infernal, Jason Mraz, McFly, Madonna), very decent pop albums (Alanis, Miley, Ultraviolet Sound, Martin) and pop albums that can be enjoyed when you are feeling a bit charitable (i'm too kind to mention the guilty). Annie's Don't Stop fits in somewhere between very decent and ace (but closer to ace than decent actually). The lead off single represents pretty much what Annie is about. Eclectic music, her distinct voice and a catchy hook. All about a male female best friend arrangement, i'm assuming from the "subtle" lyrics that la girlfriend of the bloke ain't too happy about this little dalliance. Actually that could work perfectly in Secret Diary of a Call Girl... How to describe the rest of the tunes on the album? Well, it's apt that Annie once sang about her greatest hit because this album seems to be a tribute to the greatest hits/sounds of others all sprayed with Annie's own inimitable scent. My Love Is Better is a great Girls Aloud tune courtesy of Xenomania, with some delicious Franz Ferdinand guitar spunking up the backside of the chorus. Oh how i want to see Nicola in a video for this song. The chorus is a smorgasboard of rhyming couplets and how she's better wetter and wearing superior shoes. Really you can't go wrong with some bonkers pop set to a deliriously heady musical back drop can you? Sweet does exactly what it says on the tin. There's guitar, drums, and sliding synthy sound effects - it's a kylie sounding hit waiting to happen, and actually the vocals are incredibly, well, sweet in the chorus. Just lovely. On Loco rhyming "loco" with "no go" and "go go" is a bit dubious, but the song is just another in a line of made for popjustice radio hits so it's hard to get too annoyed (though I am raising an eyebrow!)
