Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

For those of you unfamiliar with the work of Annie, she had her first (and only, but let's not give that any great prominence) UK Top 40 hit back in 2004 with the deliciously catchy , which was followed by the lovely but unfortunately non-charting , both of which were taken from the brilliantly-named Anniemal album and gained her a great deal of critical acclaim, if not so much commercial success.

Interestingly, new single 'I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me' is similar to 'Chewing Gum' both in tone and melody (and even the video isn't all that different - she obviously loves being surrounded by anonymous drone minions), which I will admit is a slight disappointment. It's not that it's a bad song, at all, but for her to return after nearly four years with a song that sounds quite similar to one I already own and cherish can't help but disappoint me a little.

However, there is more to it than that - while maintaining the same trick of twee-yet-knowing bubblegum pop with a hint of playground chanting, there's something more mature about this effort, which takes a disinterested look at a pal's jealous partner, with the refrain of "life's too long for you to get it wrong" delivered with an almost audible eye-roll.

Brilliant things about this song include: the "ring-a-ding-a-ding-ding-ding-ding" middle eight, Annie's snake-with-a-sugar-coated-tongue delivery of the lyrics, and the bit at the end where it sounds like everyone runs away in a deranged ice cream van. As I said above, I would've liked a bit more of a departure from her previous material, but I have no objections to a variation upon a theme when it's so classily executed.

Download: Out now
CD Released: July 14th

(Steve Perkins)

PS: The blog has the single cover. Which is probably not that hard to find, the internet being what it is, but it's a really pretty blog!