Annie‘s back!
Well, okay—Annie technically already came back earlier last week with her feature on the incredible Ralph Myerz disco-thon, “Take A Look At The World.” But now, she’s back with the lead offering from her highly anticipated LP (or whatever she’s working on) which we knew about since March: “Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts.”
So, is it immense as we wanted it to be?
Well, “immense” is a pretty strong term. It’s good! Even great in moments, but not quite amazing—which she almost always is.
According to Annie herself, the track is “a danceable diary entry from a few amazing raves in London + an old industrial harbour venue in Bergen, Norway.”
And indeed, the song is sorts of dark, delirious club sound (think more Inner City, less italo disco.) It’s also much more moody than some of our favorite Annie selections. Unlike “Chewing Gum” or “My Love Is Better,” Annie’s hitting her comedown in the evening—err, early morning: “6 AM, you want to dance in the park/Sun’s rising, won’t be lost in the dark/Tube stops and lonely hearts, lost the rhythm, yeah I’m falling apart,” she croons throughout. The lyrics are signature Xenomania, a la Girls Aloud‘s liquor fueled pop classics, and for good reason: The song began with Xenomania, and was then later crafted by German producer, Ville Haimala.
Unfortunately, the song never reaches a point of real transcendence: Annie broods, the synthesizer raves, the clock ticks, the chants chant (“Oh-ma-ma, oh-na-na!“), and then it all ends.
The video is equally subdued and uncomfortably stilted, as Annie stands in a pink hallway and lip-syncs along, splicing bright, Ecstasy-friendly color patterns and vintage footage of a spin class on top of a building in between, because…sure! It’s painfully awkward, and feel as though Annie’s trying to recreate the Lana Del Rey DIY cut ‘n’ splice aesthetic—but, sad to say, it falls short.
“Tube Stops” isn’t bad—it just plays like an interlude. Or, perhaps it’s just a slow grower. Regardless, I’d hoped for a more massive comeback single from the undisputed Queen of Norwegian Pop, but I’m sure Annie’s got plenty of tricks left up her sleeve. For now, I’ll be sticking to “Take A Look At The World” to get my groove on.
Don’t stop, Annie—we want more baby, we want more!