08 Jan, 2010

Your last album Anniemal was such a big success. Was there anything you wanted to do differently in your new album?

I wanted to concentrate more on the songwriting. I definitely think it’s an album that you basically can just be at home listening to, but it’s also an album that you can dance to. It’s a little bit of everything!

What sort of emotional headspace were you in during the writing and the recording?

Well it took a while – about one and a half years. While I was doing it, I sort of went through a lot of different phases of my life. I was travelling quite a lot as well – I started in New York City then I went to Finland and most of the album I was recording in the studio outside London.

Why is the new album called Don’t Stop?

It was quite funny. At the very beginning when I started to do the album I chose to call it Don’t Stop and after a while I left my record label Island Records and started my own label. At one point I thought it wasn’t going to come out at all. But I couldn’t really stop an album that I chose to call Don’t Stop!

And what was the process like of doing it on your own label? Was that really satisfying or really hard or both?

It’s quite a lot more work – you have to find the people that you think can do a good job. But at the same time, I think it’s better because when I was with a major label, I had a boss that was really great but then he left to work on another label.

Then I had to work with somebody else who didn’t get the project at all, so I now feel now much happier where I can actually work with the people that I like to work with.

What sort of things inspired you while you were writing and recording the album?

Well when I did songs like Marie Cherie, I was very inspired by 60s pop like Serge Gainsbourg, and other French pop music back in the 60s.

While I was doing songs like My Love Is Better and Loco I was listening much more to B-52s and more typical pop music. ‘Cause I’m a DJ, I buy quite a lot of music, so a lot of stuff inspires me. Watching films and going to exhibitions is also a big inspiration.

What’s the best compliment you’ve received on your music?

There was this webpage called Pitchfork who said that Heartbeat [a track off her last album] was one of the best singles they heard in the past ten years.

What I always try to do with my music is to make songs that I hope will last – that people can listen to, say, in five years and still think that it doesn’t sound like ‘so 2009’. I think it’s great to make music that people feel they can still listen to in the future as well.

If you could do a duet with anyone living or dead who would it be?

Maybe Prince. To me, he’s just such a genius, I think he’s made so much great music. He’s an amazing songwriter, an amazing producer and he looks pretty great too.

What are you currently obsessed with?

At the moment I’m travelling a lot so I’m quite obsessed with taking pictures. I bought quite a lot of cameras – on this trip I have four cameras with me! The last time around when I was touring with Anniemal I almost didn’t take any pictures, so this time I just chose to take millions of pictures.

Well with four cameras that should be easy…

That should be easy, yeah!


Annie’s album Don’t Stop is out now.