In 2004, Annie—Bergen, Norway’s sunniest export—scored both club hits and indie cred with her debut album Anniemal. Her sophomore LP Don’t Stop was initially announced in early 2008, but got tangled up, as she explains it, in a nasty case of record label drama. “I kept on delivering things but it was never enough,” says the singer.
Fast forward a year-and-a-half later, and Don’t Stop has finally arrived on these shores, thanks to Oslo-based label Smalltown Supersound. Idolator met up with 31-year-old Annie (real name: Anne Lilia Berge Strand) in Los Angeles on the eve of her album’s release to discuss her upcoming American DJ gigs and how she eventually got the spectacularly upbeat Don’t Stop into her fans’ hands. More »
As promised: The state of my “2009 awesomeness” playlist, in which I collect the songs that catch my ear as the year progresses in order to not make my best-of list a last-minute-of-December clusterfuck sort of thing. (It inevitably winds up being like that, but you know, I have noble intentions.) It’s after the jump, and has some contextual links added in. Feel free to make your own and share it here! More »
Last month, Norwegian pop singer Annie released “Anthonio,” an icy comeback single about a cad who had left her pregnant with his child. Shortly after the song came out, a MySpace user going by the name “Anthonio” started leaving remorseful messages on Annie’s MySpace page; judging by her public responses to his notes, she was not pleased–and neither were friends of hers like Sally Shapiro–with his after-the-fact attempts to apologize for leaving her with a kid. So he decided to clear his name the only way he knew how–through song: More »
