I can still remember the time that everyone on the internet was going nuts for Annie’s music. The Norwegian singer made pop music that crossed audiences due to it being just great pop music. Like ‘Chewing Gum’, ‘Heartbeat’, and ‘I Know Your Boyfriend Hates Me’.
Annie was a pop star born of the internet and as such was embraced as a totem of a new music reality. Annie never became a well-known pop star other for pop fanatics. Her most recent EP was Endless Vacation, last year and she’s a DJ in Berlin where she now lives, which is where she probably met her collaborators.
Tuff City Kids are Germans Gerd Janson and Phillip Lauer (Lauer plays here on Sunday in the Pyg) with releases on Permanent Vacation and Live at Robert Johnson of analogue electronica. They supposedly meet up every week to make tunes together.
For their debut album, Adoldesscent, on Permanent Vacation, along with Joe Goddard as guest, they have Annie on ‘Labyrinth’, a rolling electro-synth track that pairs the strengths of both sets of artists. A 12″ comes with Morgan Geist remix and more.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
