What Are You Waiting For? Download Them Now!

Spread the word.  Tell your friends.  Ring the alarms.  Let all fellow Anniemaniacs know about this glorious day!

Annie has confirmed via both her Facebook and Twitter that the next single off Don’t Stop will be I Don’t Like Your Band. The track, produced by Paul Epworth, will only be released in Europe. It’s one of the best songs off the new album and showcases Annie’s bitchy but brainy brilliance as heard on Chewing Gum and I Don’t Like UR Girlfriend.

Hurrah! More news when I get it.

Don’t Stop Reviewed On Pitchfork!

KEEP ANNIE INDIE!

So far the reviews have been glowingly positive which is the only reason I’m putting this up.   While Annie’s ‘rivals’ make music that sounds like their synths are being played with the lid down, Annie only makes genius pop.   So let’s proceed to Metacritic which takes all the scores from the relevant sites and combines them.

So far the score is at 81 which is filed under Universal Acclaim.   This could change but it probably won’t.  Or, to put things in perspective;  Annie’s genius debut Anniemal scored 81 when all the reviews had been compiled.

What The Critics Said About Don’t Stop

MusicOMH.com – Don’t Stop is one of the best pop albums of 2009.

The Guardian – It’s a delightful confection, filled with attention to detail and perfectly turned.

Slant Magazine – Annie deserves credit for attempting to stretch, both vocally and lyrically.

NME – A heart of glass is smashed. Or not. With a record this good, how could a boy bring her down?

Kirkland Ciccone – the best album in the history of pop music.  Annie is better than Beethoven and Bowie and Lennon and McCartney combined!

My favourite review of the lot is from Drowned In Sound.  It just sums up everything that’s relevant about the brilliance of Annie and this album.  And perhaps the problems surrounding her criminal lack of recognition.

Click HERE to read it.

Alternatively you can download the normal edition of the album on iTunes or buy it from Amazon.

It’s really brilliant.  I think it’s more instant than Anniemal but a worthy follow-up nonetheless.

I Don’t Like Your Band

So Annie, you started out as as hugely successful DJ before releasing your own music…
I started this club called Pop Till You Drop, where I was DJing once a month, as well as booking lots of artists, like Peaches. It was great fun and I did that for about a year. In 1999 I released a song called ‘The Greatest Hit’ on a friend’s label. It came out on vinyl- remember vinyl records? [Laughs] People loved it and it sold out it one day. It was very popular in Britain and Norway. It made me realise I could make a living out of it. My first album came out in 2004 but it’s now that people are starting to know who I am.

There was a sad story attached to that debut single, wasn’t there?
Yeah, I worked on it with my boyfriend [Norwegian house producer Tore Andreas Kroknes, aka DJ Erot] and he died of heart disease in 2001 when he was only 23. That was a real struggle and I often thought music would be too hard to do without him, but I got through it. Sometimes I feel like I’ll never meet anyone like that again, because he was such a good friend as well. I often think about him when I’m writing. I’d like to think he’d be proud of me. He wrote ‘Two Songs For Annie’ for me, which was a big club hit in 1999. I’ll never forget that.

Are you dating anyone now?
No, I’m single, but I like American-style dating. If I go out to dinner with someone, why does that mean I can’t see anyone else?

Fair point! Who’s your ideal man?
I used to like tall, skinny dark-haired men, more emo boy, but now I just want someone who’s burning with ambition. I find that really attractive. Maybe because I’m a bit like that and it’s hard for one to have it and not the other. He’s got to be a looker, of course!

We love your look, Annie. Talk us through your personal style?
Going out, I love to wear dresses, but every day it’s jeans with a cool T-shirt. I love my leather jacket, it’s from Cos- the cut is really good. I also love Jean-Charles de Castelbajac- I’m wearing one of his dresses on my album cover.

You’ve got some big names working on your new album, like Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand. You nearly had Girls Aloud on it too- what happened?
Girls Aloud were in the studio next door recording ‘Can’t Speak French’ and we needed some backing vocals. They were up for it and we had a great time. They’re all really sweet. But unfortunately we had to take their vocals off the song ['My Love Is Better'] because of the record label. It’s a shame, but I’m really proud of the album. It’s more pop than anything I’ve done before and it’s a lot more fun too.

Fast facts
Age: 31
From: Norway
Listening to: Empire Of The Sun and Mini Viva (Annie co-wrote their hit ‘Left My Heart in Tokyo’).
Music icon: Gwen Stefani and Bjork. “They both push boundaries.”
Fave fashion item: “My pink Luella dress. If my house was on fire, I’d grab that and my cat.”
Style icon: Chloe Sevigny.

Thanks to Anniemaniac definitely hype

“yes there will be a track called “all night” which sounds like roger troutman….”

So one track confirmed on the bonus disc is All Night which, incidentally, is the same track Annie hinted at on her Twitter when it went online a few months ago.

Thanks to Anniemaniac ‘Filmnoirish’ for the details.