Plop! Look what has landed in the Discopop Towers letterbox. It's a sampler for Annie's sophomore album - and major label debut - Don't Stop. Four years in the making, it has left the poor dear looking a little bit worse for wear:



Don't Stop isn't out 'til July, but here's what we learn from these first five tracks.

I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me
Ugly text-speak typography aside, this a a great little pop nugget. A sonic sister to Annie's Chewing Gum, it suggests that writer/producer Richard X hasn't progressed much since Some Girls in 2004. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The song climaxes, for no apparent reason, with the sound of an ice cream van.
Key lyric: Ring-a-ding-a-ding-ding-ding-ding, Ring-a-ding-a-ding-ding

My Love Is Better
There are no liner notes on the CD, but I'm willing to bet my right arm that this is a Xenomania track. I've always found the team's non-Girls Aloud songs rather anonymous, but this one perfectly captures the feisty funk of the former Pop Stars finalists. The lyrics are basically saying 'I'm better than you, so ner ner ner' and, if I'm not mistaken, the actual Girls Aloud are hanging around on backing vocal duties.
Key lyric: Betting that your bark has nothing on my bite.

When The Night
Annie is experiencing some nocturnal angst, like dracula but without the blood lust. A classy, understated ballad that wouldn't sound out of place on the Pet Shop Boy's Behaviour album.
Key lyric: I'm burning like a moth attracted to the flame, but better that I burn than slowly fade away.

Marie Cherie
A song about nobel prize-winning radioactivity pioneer Marie Curie [are you sure about this? - Ed]. Another dramatic ballad, replete with sweeping strings and whispered harmonies. Serge Gainsbourg would be proud. And so would St Etienne. Me, I'm not so sure...
Key lyric: Her skin's like velvet cream. She never made a sweet sixteen.

Songs Remind Me Of You
The only track on this sampler that brings to mind the extended disco magnificence of Come Together from Annie's debut, Anniemal. Focused around a bubbling Giorgio Moroder bassline, the song is addressed to a former lover whose songs haunt Annie's every waking minute. It ends with a gong, as all great pop songs should.
Key lyric: How does it feel to hear your songs on the radio?

Can't wait to hear the rest of the material... You might be able to catch some of it at Annie's forthcoming UK DJ shows. Details on her Myspace page.

Labels: annie, Music, Review