I can remember the first time I heard ‘The Greatest Hit’, Annie’s fantastically catchy, credible pop track. It was New Year’s Day 2001. I had just got in from the night before, turned the radio on and this song started playing with effortless vocals and a great hook. The hook being a sample from ‘Everybody’ by Madonna. This inspired pop song, originally made for fun five years ago, became an underground cult classic, recorded with the late Tore E. Kroknes (aka DJ Erot), her musical partner and boyfriend. “I think Tore would have wanted me to stay happy, and making this album was my destiny. I needed to do it for me”.

 

Her debut album, ‘Anniemal’ was released earlier this year and has been embraced by everybody from your NME readers to club-goers on the dancefloor at Fabric and everywhere in between. It’s a magnificent combination of alternative pop, applied with suss and style.

 

Annie is another artist to come from the musical melting pot that is Bergen (her close-knit hometown in Norway) which she shares with the likes of Royksopp, Kings of Convenience, Magnet and Ralph Myerz. She has quickly forged her own reputation for revitalising the dancefloor with impeccably poised club classics.

 

Her first UK single release and debut chart hit, ‘Chewing Gum’, a pop masterpiece in its own right was dubbed one of the singles of last year. The album went in at No 1 in Norway and had a Norwegian Grammy nomination earlier this year. As well as promoting ‘Anniemal’, she has just compiled her first DJ Kicks mix. Often described as “the most important DJ mix series ever”, the series continues to flourish as a genre-hopping platform for a wide variety of sounds, styles and artists. Already an accomplished DJ in her own right, Annie is currently touring the world with her own ‘Anniemix’ DJ set across the world, having recently supported St Etienne in the UK and played at countless festivals. Aided by her musical companion Timo (from OP:L Bastards), the tracks on the album veer from the oddball electro of Le Bianda’s ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ to the misfit rock of ‘Black History Month’ by Death From Above 1979, by way of theatrical funk in the way of Mu’s ‘Paris Hilton’.

“It was a bit complicated because I like so much different music. I was at first thinking do either pure rock or electro but I decided to do something different and just pick out 17 of my favourite songs. Songs that people probably haven’t heard before and also that they haven’t heard for years like Bow Wow Wow”.

“Definitely. I’m always playing different songs because I tend to get bored easily (laughs) so don’t want to be playing the same old songs all the time”. Annie fans will be pleased to hear there are two new tracks from the lady herself featured (‘Gimme your Money’ and ‘The Wedding’). “’The Wedding’ was actually recorded when we did ‘Anniemal’. We were recording the single ‘Heartbeat’ and got bored, so were thinking hmm, let’s do something new and completely different. They are both my ‘Material Girl’ songs – they are both about power, money, and the boring side of people. Different from my album, I guess”.

“My own music? Electronic pop music. I guess that’s how you’d say it in a traditional, boring way. It’s very hard for me because when I am writing the music, I always get inspired by this and that. I always find it difficult to describe what I am actually doing myself!”

“Tom Tom Club, Human League, old New York disco like Larry Levant.

At the moment, I really like the Goldfrapp album (‘Supernature’) and listen to it all the time”.

“Really nice. I’m a big fan of them myself. It was cool for me to have the chance to open for them. Had a great crowd reaction. Was actually surprised to see the place was packed when I started my set!”

“I enjoy playing live more and more. I actually only started playing in February this year so don’t feel like a professional yet. It’s starting to be something I really enjoy. Djing, for me, is like a party. I like both but in different ways”.

“I think it’s very exciting to see how things are going. In Norway, I seem to be appealing to a much younger audience – like girls of seven years old. In other places, it seems to be more like the indie kids who like my music. It’s exciting for me to see that crossover. I don’t think I have an idea in my mind of who to appeal to but I do have some great fans”.

“I’m a very big Madonna fan. My favourite song of hers must be ‘Into the Groove’. I think it’s the best pop track ever made! I heard from my friend today that she’s recorded a new song that samples Abba. I’m excited to hear the new material especially as it’s supposed to be like her earlier material. But sampling Abba? That sounds scary”.

“My album is being released in different territories all the time. It’s out in Japan and Australia soon and it’s not even released in the whole of Europe yet. Have just finished a US tour with Royksopp which was exciting and am about to tour Germany. So, my immediate plans are to continue promoting ‘Anniemal’ and the DJ Kicks album which I will be touring at the beginning of next year. Am also starting my own club night in Bergen with a friend of mine called ‘Pop Till You Drop’”

 

The DJ Kicks album, as with her personal work, sparkles with contagious passion. No matter what happens in the upper reaches of the charts, it’ll never go out of fashion.