Annie (singer)

Annie

Anne Lilia Berge Strand (born November 21, 1978 in Trondheim, Norway), better known by her stage name Annie, is a pop artist and DJ from Bergen, Norway. She first earned recognition in 1999, when her single "The Greatest Hit", which samples Madonna's "Everybody", became an underground club hit in Norway and Britain.

In 2003, Annie was signed to 679 Recordings and met British producer Richard X, with whom she wrote and recorded "Chewing Gum." Her debut album Anniemal was released in 2004. The album was well-received by bloggers and critics.

Annie's song "Heartbeat" was chosen as Pitchfork Media's #1 Single of 2004 before it was officially released. Anniemal won Best Pop Album and Annie won Best Newcomer at the Spellemannsprisen, an annual Norwegian music award ceremony.

Her second album Don't Stop is scheduled for release in July 2008 on Island Records.

Early life

Annie was born in Trondheim, Norway, and moved soon after with her family to the coastal town of Kristiansand. Her father, a church organ player, died of cancer when she was 7. Six years later, Annie and her mother moved to Norway's second largest city Bergen. By this time, Annie sang in choirs and played the piano.

At age 16, Annie became the lead singer of Suitcase, a self-proclaimed indie rock band. The band's only performance took place at a contest before a panel of judges. Their guitar broke during the performance, and they did not reach the finals. A few years later she left the band over musical differences, when her bandmates wanted to switch from indie rock to trip-hop.

Annie attended secondary school until around 1997, when she began to DJ around Bergen, getting acquainted with members of the Bergen music scene. During this time she met producer Mikal Tellé, owner of the Bergen-based Tellé record label, and Norwegian house producer Tore Andreas Kroknes, known professionally as DJ Erot.

Early career

Annie and Tore became romantically involved, and began to collaborate musically. Annie launched her solo singing career in 1999 with the single Greatest Hit, released under the Tellé label, a song she wrote and recorded with Tore. The song, which samples Madonna's song "Everybody", saw a limited release of 500 7-inch singles and sold out in two days. The song became an underground club hit in Norway and Britain, and Annie received numerous offers for record contracts.

Annie went on to record "I Will Get On" with Tore in 2001 and made plans to release an album. However, these plans were cut short when Tore, who suffered from a degenerative heart condition, fell ill and was hospitalized repeatedly over the course of several months. Later that year, Tore died of complications from his heart condition at the age of 23.

Though Annie went through a period of depression after Tore's death, in time she returned to DJing and writing music. With friend Fröken Blytt, she started a club night in Bergen at the Agora nightclub called Pop Till You Drop, where she met Finnish DJ Timo Kaukolampi of Op:l Bastards. In return for booking him for Pop Till You Drop, Annie traveled to Helsinki to DJ at Timo's own night club, and later lent her vocals to some Op:l Bastards tracks.

Anniemal

Annie sent a demo tape to Britain's 679 Recordings label and was signed in March 2003. Around this time she met British producer Richard X and contributed vocals for the track Just Friends on his X-Factor Volume 1, released in August 2003.

Annie and Richard X continued to work together, releasing the single Chewing Gum in Annie's name in September 2004. The track was named single of the week by NME soon after its release, and charted in the UK at #25.

Later that year, Annie released her debut CD Anniemal, collaborating with Timo Kaukolampi, Richard X, who produced and co-wrote the track "Me Plus One", and fellow Norwegians Röyksopp. "Greatest Hit" earned a spot in the tracklist, and the album's second single "Heartbeat" was voted #1 in Pitchfork Media's Top 50 singles of 2004 before the song was officially released. "Chewing Gum" took the #11 spot on that same list.

In 2005, Annie won several awards for her work, including Best Pop Album and Best Newcomer at the Norwegian Alarm Awards. Chewing Gum had also been nominated for Song of the Year. In addition, Annie won the Best Newcomer award at the prestigious Spellemannsprisen. Annie's February 5 performance at the Alarm Awards was one of the first live performances of her solo career.

Annie toured around the world in 2005 to promote Anniemal, including a brief UK tour with Saint Etienne, to whom she had sent a demo tape while still in Suitcase in 1996. Annie performed at sold out club venues in the United States in 2005, and returned to the US later that year.

Career to date

In 2005, Annie released a DJ mix album as part of !K7's DJ-Kicks series. Since then, she began a record label, Totally, with Timo Kaukolampi. She has provided vocals for the Teddybears track "Yours to Keep" as well as the Ercola track "Follow Me", and rerecorded her songs "Chewing Gum" and "Heartbeat" in the Simlish nonsense-language for The Sims 2: Nightlife's Danish and Norwegian localizations.

On January 17, 2007, Annie signed an international deal with Island Records, owned by Universal Music Group. She will release her second album, Don't Stop, in July 2008, preceded by the single "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me", scheduled for release on June 9, after she has finished touring on the Popjustice Wonky Pop Tour. Brian Higgins is confirmed as one of the album's producers, as is Richard X, who is believed to have co-written the songs "Anthonie" and "Songs Remind Me Of You" and produced a cover of Stacey Q's 1986 NRG hit "Two of Hearts" for the album. The album will feature collaborations with Franz Ferdinand, and Datarock.

The album's first single, another Richard X collaboration, "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" premiered on her MySpace on 3rd March 2008 and will be released in stores in July.

It was announced in early May that the song "My Love is Better," a collaboration with UK pop group Girls Aloud, would not be included on the album as previously planned. Producer Brian Higgins was reported to have included vocal tracks from a Girls Aloud demo in the song without their permission, however, UK tabloid The Daily Star has since reported that the band have allowed Annie to use the track for the album. A message from the official Annie mailing list states that the album will be released in September.

Discography

Albums

• 2004 (September) Anniemal UK #101
• 2005 (October) DJ-Kicks: Annie
• 2008 (September) Don't Stop

Singles

• 1999 "Greatest Hit" #142 UK (charted in 2000), #100 (charted in 2002)
• 2002 "I Will Get On" #196 UK (charted in 2003)
• 2004 "Chewing Gum" #8 Norway, #31 Sweden, #25 UK, #45 Europe Official Top 100, #46 Australia
• 2005 "Heartbeat" #17 Finland, #18 Norway, #50 UK, #77 Dutch Top 100 Singles
• 2005 "Happy Without You"
• 2005 "Always Too Late"/"Helpless Fool For Love"
• 2005 "Wedding"
• 2006 "Crush"
• 2008 "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me"

Videos

• 2004 "Chewing Gum"
• 2005 "Heartbeat" (Filmed in Helsinki)]
• 2008 "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me"

External links

• Official Website
• Official Myspace

References

• "A fan's encounter with Annie". Annie reveals she was born in 1978. URL accessed on April 1, 2006.