Annie – Anniemal
(679)

Anniemal, the well received pop album by Anne Lilia Berge-Strand, aka Annie, finally sees a North American release in the coming months. I paid import price for it anyway, and I have no regrets.

Annie is most often written up as the Scandivanian Kylie Minogue, and it’s a fair comparison – the breathy vocals mostly, and the European electronic sounding musical accompaniment in comparison to North American fare. And by simply being blue chip pop music. In a time dominated by whiny teenage actresses who consider a recording career as more of merchandising empire than as a fun experience, singing songs written by someone else about their own problems with paparazzi, feuding with other actress turned singers – a real pop superstar that can bring unannoying, danceable, Jacko-at-his-peak quality material is sorely needed. Whereas Kylie is, for better or for worse, and despite middle age, a sexpot who occasionally mingles among these vapid so-called pop elite, Annie reminds uncorrupted. A New Hope. With Even Better Songs. And More of Them.

The ballyhoo surrounding this album is funny, as with the first listen, I’m sure many will wonder what the fuss is all about. It’s just pop music. When my friends first heard me listening to it, they all wondered what I was smoking. Granted, there‘s absolutely nothing new or groundbreaking about “Anniemal”. However, one by one, from the bouncy bass lines of “Me Plus One” to the spy movie-ish synth charm “Always Too Late”, dominate the playlist of songs stuck in your head. The biggest killers of this variety are the two singles. “Heartbeat”, is an innocent, almost Cardigans-ish, combination of dance and indie alt rock. “Chewing Gum” on the other hand, is a kiss-off track that lyrically, gives Annie some edge, her character knowingly playing the bitch and the card, using the gum cliché, talking about how easy it is to wrap boys around her finger, and spitting them to the curb when the flavour is gone. It’s punctuated by the best pop chorus in recent memory, “You think you’re chocolate but you’re chewing gum”, which is just begging for me to make a custom t-shirt of it to taunt my puny PS2 WWE Smackdown vs. Raw opponents.

Really, theres just as many potential #1’s on here as Michael Jackson’s best. And what’s more, it’s pop music you can make more than a simple guilty pleasure. Yeah, I actually thought Aqua were awesome, I have Madonna’s Immaculate Collection. I’m a sucker and usually scared to admit I can fall for some of this vapid pop crap, but for Annie I make no apologies. She’s incredibly incredibly cool.

What makes her album really, so incredibly incredibly cool?

1) The lack of overt over the top sexual theatrics dominating yet another pop song. I’m sick of hearing pop singers tell me they want to make love to me. They don’t. Annie on the other hand, at most, will tease: “If ever there’s a girl who could rock your world than that girl sure is me.”

2) If you were to remove the vocals entirely, you still have a peppy electronic/house album that can stand on its own two feet.

3) The album has an ‘indie’ appeal. Despite being loaded with hits, the album does have more of an edge than all the Kylies out there could ever hope for. While “Heartbeat” may seem to be just about dancing, it’s presented as such that it feels like a reflection on a past memory, maybe one that won’t happen again. Annie’s vocals are muted enough here that at time they express a subtle melancholy. This is also present on “No Easy Love” and throughout other tracks as well . You have to wonder if this is because of Annie’s personal experience, as her significant other and co-conspirator died in 2001.

Granted, there are a few negative things I can say about the record, but they’re not even enough to bring down the grade. The album sags in quality in comparison to the rest as it progresses. It does seem to follow the ‘a side/b side’ dynamic of old records. But it’s a very, very shallow decline. It also has a pointless and skippable intro track, I have no idea why the hell so many records still have them, especially on pop records.

Annie has put together an album and performance that showcases her as a sympathetic, fun, emotional, and very real, human being. I love her, she’s just great. Wuv. I fear, no, DREAD, that when the Americans get her claws on her, they’ll corrupt and destroy my dear sweet Annie. So I bring this review to you now dear reader, get it before, as the Annie song says, ‘its too late’. We won’t see a pop record of this quality again in a LOOOONG time. — Goon

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