​​Had A Hard-Knock Life? Try The Angelic Annie…

The genealogy of pop music is littered with romantically linked boy-girl combos – think Sonny and Cher and Ike and Tina – and on the surface it would appear that Norwegian coupling Erot and Annie are prime examples of this often-explosive mix. From the  surnameless monikers to the division of labour – bloke taking care of the music and the wee lass delivering short, sharp classical paeans to the pop canon – everything would seem to be in place, yet both Erot and Annie are at pains to distance themselves from such comparisons.

“We’re not the new Eurythmics,” Erot laughs. “I actually want her to be a solo artist. We’re not a band, she’s the star. I don’t even want to be in the background.”

Boyfriend and girlfriend for three years and songwriting partners for a year, Erot says the two sides of the relationship complement each other, albeit with one caveat. “I think Annie would prefer it sometimes if we were friends then we could be a bit more critical and a bit rougher with each other,” he says. Annie meanwhile just states matter-of-factly: “It can be a bit strange, but it works.” 

Whatever the nature of their relationship, it hasn’t precluded them from concocting the most delightful piece of gossamer-light power pop you’ll hear all summer in Annie’s ‘The Greatest Hit’. Think temptingly sexed-up vocal delivery, a hook so catchy you’ll be trying to scratch the itch for weeks and lolloping house rhythms, and you’ll soon understand why the likes of Miles Hollway, Erik Rug and Rob da Bank have been caning the track since last summer when it originally came out on 7-inch on Norwegian imprint Tele.

Now licenced to Brighton beat-masters Loaded, the track’s cute and sassy simplicity positively screams of one Material Girl’s classic ‘84-‘88 era. A fact not lost on Annie. “Madonna has always been a huge influence on me,” she readily admits. “‘Into the Groove’ is one of the best pop records ever. Her lyrics were always really simple and naïve and her style was out of this world.”

Yet with Erot stating that trance has become the dance music du jour in Norway, how does that easy-going style fit in with the devil’s sound? “We’re OK,” he states. “There’s a big love of house music in Norway, Romanthony is in all the national papers alongside Britney Spears.”

Which, without thinking too hard, is pretty much Annie and Erot in a nutshell –  Romanthony cuddling up to our Britney.

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