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Featuring some of the most inventive producers in pop and steered by a singer who knows her way round a catchy melody or five, Don't Stop is one of the best pop albums of 2009.
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Thanks to collaborations with Richard X, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and Xenomania’s Brian Higgins, Annie’s cross-genre “pop with strange edges” still comes together with plenty of bang.
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Anyone who can bring real emotion to lines like “How does it feel to hear your songs on the radio? / And does it hurt to hear your songs on the radio?” deserves to be a real star.
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Don't Stop is bubblegum fun with long-lasting flavor.
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The lead single has been switched more times than a Sugababes member and the tracklisting has been mercurial. But, oh boy, was it worth the wait.
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It's a delightful confection, filled with attention to detail and perfectly turned--and deserving of your attention.
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Don’t Stop is an electro-pop truffle--a tasty confection with a hard, glossy shell surrounding a smooth, melt-in-your-ear interior of cheeky, playful lyrics.
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UncutFragrant ballads "When The Night" and "Marie Cheri" add a softer dimension to a bold collection on which Annie rarely puts a foot wrong. [Nov 2009, p. 81]
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Annie steals listeners' hearts with her light-as-a-feather vocal delivery and infectious beats.
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Novelty is only part of what makes pop work, and on Don’t Stop, Annie brings enough of the other stuff--hooks, grooves, and a combination of sass and sincerity--to make you forgive her tardiness.
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It’s an inspired recasting of Annie’s wispy voice[on 'Marie Cherie'], which seems to ring truest when draped in melancholy. That vulnerability--more than anything else--sets Annie apart from the pack.
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Not every song on Don't Stop or its bonus All Night EP is a classic, but Annie's good taste has yielded another fine crop of pop tunes.
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The inescapable feeling that Don’t Stop probably won’t sell all that many copies makes the songs sound like electric guitars without amplifiers. There are only so many things a musician can provide and sadly Annie has it all but that key component.
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Annie deserves credit for attempting to stretch, both vocally and lyrically, but she's better off when quietly lamenting lost love or championing the power of the dance floor to bring people together, as she effectively does on the opening track 'Hey Annie.'
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Don't Stop boasts gleaming dance-pop production from first-album collaborators Richard X and Timo Kaukolampi, plus Bloc Party/Kate Nash producer Paul Epworth and Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos.
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All tracks considered, Annie makes a significant step forward with Don’t Stop. That step that might have taken awhile to hit the floor, but was well placed when it did.
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Her second LP, re-tweaked after a leak and a label change, refines her Euro-disco with more flavors and fewer hooks. Still, the music remains rapturous and cheeky.
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As on Anniemal, Don't Stop contains some of the catchiest, most clever dance-pop in circulation....The collaborations with Xenomania (five songs), Timo Kaukolampi (three), and Richard X (one) aren’t as powerful, however, with a good handful of their songs no match for Anniemal’s weaker moments.
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Some of these songs do, of course, belong on the radio: They’re saturated with production effects catered to a generation that calls its designer drug “ecstasy,” all wrapped around indulgent hooks, sentimental lyrics, and a sweet voice airbrushed into flawlessness. But Annie flaunts too much.
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Q MagazineThe result was a record stranded between the two [mainstream or underground cool], hummable, but too quirky to cross over. [Nov 2009, p.101]
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Under The RadarWhen it's good, it's very good. And when it's bad...well... [Holiday 2009, p.81]
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Indeed, Annie’s given us a few winning singles but also a lot of glitz that can probably be ignored after one listen or two.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 25
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Mixed: 0 out of 25
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Negative: 3 out of 25
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Jun 19, 2011