Electropop is a curious beast. The oddest thing about it is the phenomenon whereby certain practitioners of it are lauded by the indie schmindie critic crowd, a faction of music listeners usually thought of as being disdainful of such genres. There’s two ways of looking at that – one is that the indie music press takes certain artists under its wing because they display some credentials of independence and some artistic scruples and objectives over and above the accumulation of sales. The less charitable view is that critics and writers actively look for electropoppers unclaimed by the mainstream media and tactically make them their own.
Whatever the truth, Annie is one of the artists around whom this phenomenon plays out – she’s even been proclaimed “the Kylie it’s cool to like”. But things haven’t all been perfectly pop princess-like for this Norwegian singer. The death of her partner and collaborator Tore Kroknes nearly sank her music career before it got off the ground, and despite the eventual success of her debut record Anniemal, this follow-up has long been stuck in a bureaucratic record label nightmare, delaying its release and forcing it to go through multiple iterations.
The wait for a final version was worth it, however. Don’t Stop is a damn fine example of a quality slick pop record for the 21st century. It’s not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination, laden as it is with songs structured exactly as you’d expected, driven by hooks exactly as you’d expected, and adorned with synths and smooth beats, exactly as you’d expect. And yet there’s still something about Annie – her clean, glassy, even ethereal vocals lend the songs a bit of much-needed distinctiveness, and there’s a nice variety of songs, all largely lacking the vacuous and self-absorbed nature of much of today’s pop.
Generally Annie’s at her best when she’s at her most strident, as on ‘I Don’t Like Your Band’, which even the odd clumsy lyric can’t dull. ‘Songs Remind Me of You’ is another of the album’s highlights, largely because of its quite charmingly delivered chorus – “how does it feel to hear your songs on the radio / and does it hurt to hear your songs on the radio?” Annie and her collaborators aren’t interested in changing the world, but merely making it a bit more of a fun place. Imperfect but frequently arrestingly exciting and undeniably cool, this is a solid album which is at least on a par with recent efforts by the likes of fellow Scandinavian starlets like Lykke Li and Robyn.
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Other albums by this artist
DO WANT.
Cool review, feel it does justice to her sound; not trying to change the world like you say but just adding her own bit of sparkle to it.
without doubt the kind of record kylie should be making right now. it’s a very good pop record, this. she’s cute as a button too.
It is a prety good album in my oppinion. I very much like this type of club music as it is not like the usual house music but the pop sounding makes it kind of fresher. My favourite song from this album is “I Don’t Like Your Band”. There are other good ones ofcourse. A definitely recommended album!