What’s this? It’s been quite the wait for this – eleven years since her last album, to be precise – but today, Norwegian artist Annie returns with her brand-new album. The third of her career. Written and produced largely in collaboration with Stefan Storm out of The Sound of Arrows, this is ‘Dark Hearts’.
What’s on it? The four singles/buzz tracks (‘American Cars’, ‘The Bomb’, ‘Dark Hearts’ and ‘The Streets Where I Belong’) plus nine brand-new tracks.
What’s it like? Well as the previous songs hinted at, she’s delivered an eclectic mix of styles, all woven together via a clearly composed theme – that theme being her well-thought-through brand of nostalgic, dreamy synthpop. On ‘Dark Hearts’, we have attention-grabbing pop beauty, epic and airy synth soundscapes with an almost spoken-word vocal, and some deliciously dark electro.
Highlights? Well ‘The Streets Where I Belong’ is already a classic in her repertoire. ‘In Heaven’ sets the tone of the album brilliantly, as the atmospheric opening track. ‘Forever ’92’ is the record’s poppiest moment, upping the tempo of proceedings considerably and bringing the sax appeal. And then ‘Stay Tomorrow’ even goes so far as to manage to take you on something of a vacation. But the album really is best enjoyed as a whole. All of it takes you somewhere. And we cannot recommend enough that you lie back, turn the volume up as high as is comfortable, and allow the album to bring you with it on Annie’s journey back through her life. ‘Dark Hearts’ is an opportunity to get lost somewhere magical for an hour. And it already serves as a big highlight of the year that has been 2020.
More from Annie? Well would you believe it? We’ve selected the 12 best tunes of her career up to now, and ranked them. Essential listening.