Annie

A pop auteur whose lithe voice energises her upbeat songs and gives a chilly edge to her downtempo cuts, Annie has been responsible for some of the 21st century’s most indelible electro music. Born Anne Lilia Berge Strand in Trondheim, Norway, in 1977, Annie released her debut single, the upbeat Madonna-sampling cut “Greatest Hit”, in 1999; the illness and subsequent death of its producer, DJ Erot, resulted in her taking a hiatus from making music. When she returned, she began collaborating with Timo Kaukolampi of the Finnish funk-dub act Op:l Bastards; the two worked on songs that would appear on her debut full-length, Anniemal, alongside cuts including the cheeky Richard X-produced kiss-off “Chewing Gum” and the icily hopeful Röyksopp collab “Heartbeat”. Anniemal came out in Norway in 2004 and was released internationally the following year; Annie signed with Island Records and released the glittery “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me”, but the deal fell through and she went independent for her second album, Don’t Stop, which contained the disco-tinged “Songs Remind Me of You” and, in a special edition, the haunting “Anthonio”. In the 2010s, Annie resumed DJing around the world, releasing the occasional single and EP; in 2020, she returned with Dark Hearts, a cinematic synth-pop record steeped in nostalgia, and she followed that up with the cover-heavy 2021 EP Neon Nights.