One Track Mind

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In 2004, Norway’s Anne Lilia Berge-Strand recorded Anniemal, her debut under the shortened appellation of Annie. It was an improbable success within the indie world, a sugary blast of bubblegum dance music that benefitted from sharp contributions courtesy of Royksopp and a brilliant bit of Madonna sampling. Like a trapeze artist toeing the high wire, Anniemal was carefully placed on the borderline between pop confection and indie invention, securing it a place on MP3 players throughout hipsterdom (even if that place was sometimes marked by the conflicted feelings of a guilty pleasure).

Since then, the seas have been rougher for Annie. After three years being put through the record label wringer–including the frustration of a slew of rescheduled release dates and unwanted leaks on internet file sharing services–her new album, Don’t Stop, will at long last see a release November 17th on Smalltown Supersound. [Music nerd six degrees of separation note: Smalltown Supersound released Toy's self-titled record, a track from which was incorporated by Annie on her 2005 installment of the DJ-Kicks series.] This time around, Annie is joined by some new luminaries including Paul Epworth (aka Phones), whose ubiquitous production has previously gilded the notes of The Rakes, Bloc Party, and The Rapture, and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, who lends some jagged guitar riffs to the release.

“I Don’t Like Your Band” is the first song from Don’t Stop Annie is sharing, and its sound shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those who loved Anniemal. In a sense, the most remarkable aspect of the song is how much it sounds like something off her debut, although Epworth’s synths have a little more teeth in their bite. The groove still has that big bounce, played up here by the opening stuttering samples, and Annie’s vocal melodies carry their characteristic lilt. Lyrically, the song is cheeky and playful, with the chorus essentially an enumeration of the things about some poor sap’s music Annie doesn’t much like. It closes with the tongue-twisting, “It’s not you, it’s not you, it’s your tunes,” an indictment some among us would find more damning than if it had been us. Even if “I Don’t Like Your Band” isn’t a departure for Annie, it is a reminder of what made her music so lovable in the first place: it’s clever and fun enough to withstand repeated listens, even if you may be a little embarrassed to bob your head along to the beat.