Fall Of Glittering Stars

Annie “American Cars”

In the mid 2000s, the Norwegian singer Annie – along with the Swedish singer Robyn – laid the groundwork for virtually every beloved “pop star” we have today who struggles to land chart hits while cultivating fawning press and a devoted cult audience. Prior to the ’00s working in “pop” as a genre was a zero sum game – you either had big hits and were legitimate, or you didn’t and were immediately considered a failure and were disrespected and forgotten. The only room for cult fandom in this lane was reserved for import-bin artists like Kylie Minogue or Girls Aloud, who had attained major hits outside the United States. Robyn, whose arc is based on coming back from early chart hits she released as a teen, is a model of underground pop in the way she took control of her career and remade herself as an auteur. Annie, on the other hand, is more like an indie band in stature and reach, and in the way she played straight-ahead pop without ironing out her quirks or artsy influences.

“American Cars,” her first single in over a decade, leaves the bubbly pop of her breakthrough Anniemal to successors like Carly Rae Jepsen and moves in a darker, more atmospheric direction more along the lines of The Chromatics or Bat for Lashes. The ice cold synthesizers are perfectly suited to Annie’s airy, trebly voice. Her lyrics, inspired directly by the David Cronenberg film Crash, are evocative and romantic but the vocal is mixed so in a tonal sense it could just as well be another keyboard part, particularly on the chorus hook. As brilliant as “Chewing Gum” and “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me” are, this new aesthetic actually feels more authentically Annie.

Buy it from Amazon.