Annie's hopes of bubblegum hits

By Mark Savage
BBC News entertainment reporter

I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me is Annie's first single on a major label

Scandinavian pop has undergone something of a renaissance in the last 12 months, with acts like Robyn and Alphabeat playing - and beating - UK acts at their own game.

The latest singer to launch an assault on the charts is Norwegian starlet Annie - who is hoping to fulfill the promise of her 2004 debut, Anniemal.

The record, an unashamed marriage of early Madonna and European club music, won near-universal praise (its average score on review website Metacritic is 81 out of 100) but failed to translate that buzz into sales.

Part of the problem was that Annie was on a small, independent label whose marketing budget couldn't compete with the Kylies and Sugababes at the top of the pop rosta.

Annie began her career with the Madonna-sampling Greatest Hit

Now, however, she's back with a new album (Don't Stop) and a major label (Island) who have... er, given her a cold.

"I took some pictures last week for my album cover and they had a wind machine just blowing in my face," says the 29-year-old.

"I think it killed my throat."

Boyfriend trouble

Coughs and sniffles aside, the big budget has had its advantages. Don't Stop features six songs from Girls Aloud hitmakers Xenomania, not to mention cameos from Franz Ferdinand, Datarock and Girls Aloud themselves.

The sound is more mature, but Annie's bubblegum pop instincts remain intact - particularly on lead single I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me.

"It's based on a friend who lives in Bergen," admits the singer.

"She's a really great girl, really smart and very beautiful and she always hangs out with a lot of guys.

"I remember I met her a bit over a year ago and she was having big trouble with a girl who kept ringing her doorbell and screaming: 'I can't stand you, you're stealing my boyfriend.'"

"But I think, in the end, she actually did steal the boyfriend. So the other girl was right to be jealous!"

Are you sure this "friend" wasn't you, I ask?

"No, no, no! I'm not that bad," she laughs.

"Almost, but not that bad".

Are they boisterous? No, they were really decent and nice. Very hard-working Annie rates her backing singers

Nonetheless, the singer has her naughty side - listing lascivious Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg as an inspiration for her new songs.

But, she says, she tries to avoid listening to too much music when she's in the recording studio in case she inadvertently lifts a phrase or melody.

"It's awful when that happens," she admits.

"You're so pleased with yourself and then you realise: 'It wasn't me - it was the Pet Shop Boys!'"

Not that any of the tracks on Don't Stop sound derivative - I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me even incorporates a sample from an ice cream van.

Elsewhere, Annie spreads her compositional wings, scoring pastel ballads like Marie Cherie with the same commanding confidence she displays on the bleepy electro of Songs Remind Me Of You.

festival plans

Having recorded more than 60 tracks over four years, she's brimming with confidence for the new record - and hopes it will outdo the "disappointing" performance of its predecessor.

"Last time, I only did one gig in the UK. I spent too little time here. This time, I'm going to do more."

The presence of Girls Aloud ("they were just spending a lot of time at the studio") has already proved beneficial - getting a precious few column inches in the tabloids.

The star met Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos at an MIA gig in Japan

Not that Annie will be spilling any beans on their supposed wild nights out.

"Are they boisterous? No, they were really decent and nice," she says.

"Very hard-working, very funny girls. I really liked them."

Despite her pop aspirations, Annie admits she could never embrace the late nights, magazine shoots, and constant television appearances that fill Cheryl Cole's diary.

Indeed, she claims to be much more modest than your average chart star.

"I'm not the kind of person who goes out to a club and asks for my songs to be played," she laughs.

"Although I know a couple of artists who do that..."

She refuses to name names, but could Annie be referring to Geri Halliwell - about whom she recorded the scathing Me Plus One (the lyrics refer to a "wannabe senorita" and advise "take a look at yourself... you've got to let it go")?

"No, it's not her either," she laughs. "Or maybe - maybe she does that.

"I can imagine her saying: 'I'm not dancing until you play my songs', but I don't know".

But wouldn't Halliwell be the only person left on the dancefloor if the DJ obliged?

"I didn't say that," she scolds. "You did."

I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me is out on 14 July.