Michael D. Ayers, N.Y.
After a worldwide record deal with Island Records collapsed last
year, Norwegian electropop songstress Annie is forging ahead with
plans to release her second album, "Don't Stop," sometime in
2009.
"I own the masters, so I can do whatever I want to do. I might do
it myself, on my own label," she tells Billboard.com. "We're
talking to people too. There's so much happening in the business
right now. In a way, I feel to do things on your own, you're in
control. I've always been this sort of artist that people don't
know how to categorize me and what to do with me."
Annie scored international acclaim for her 2004 debut for 679
Recordings, "Anniemal," which spawned the hits "Heartbeat" and
"Chewing Gum." Atlantic picked up the album for North American
release in June 2005; it has sold 20,000 copies here, according to
Nielsen SoundScan.
The Island deal fell apart after the label group's U.K. president,
Nick Gatfield, left the company to join EMI as president of A&R
for North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland. "It's just
difficult, when you first work with someone and you have a vision
and an idea of what you want to do, and suddenly you're working
with someone who doesn't care about anything at all," Annie
says.
As for "Don't Stop," the album was originally slated to include 12
tracks, but Annie says that could change, as she's completed close
to 60 songs. "It's sort of a template," she says of the
once-thought-to-be-completed version. "I actually have enough for
two albums, so I don't know if I'm going to put out the one as it
is, and one right after, or just some songs as ['Don't Stop'] with
a couple that no one's heard. But I want to release a lot [this]
year."
Listeners charmed by the idiosyncratic dance pop of "Anniemal" will
find clear creative growth on "Don't Stop," which ranges from
club-ready, Girls Aloud-worthy kiss-offs like "My Love Is Better"
and "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" to propulsive, rock-tinged cuts
like "Song Reminds Me of You" and "Bad Times" and sweet, synth-y
ballads like "When the Night." Fans of Goldfrapp, Madonna and Kylie
Minogue will feel quite at home.
Two singles, "Anthonio" and "My Love Is Better," are slated for
release sometime in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile,
Annie is building a home studio in Berlin, designing the artwork
for the singles and mulling live dates in Europe and North America.