Annie ran into some obstructions on the way to the release of her second album.
Don't Stop was supposed to come out on Island well over a year before it was finally issued on Norway’s Smalltown Supersound; Island had gone as far as releasing "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" as a single and video, as well as a cover of
Stacey Q’s "Two of Hearts" as a promotional single, but
Annie and Island split, and
Don’t Stop finally surfaced with a different track list that included neither "Girlfriend" nor "Hearts." As on
Anniemal,
Don't Stop contains some of the catchiest, most clever dance-pop in circulation, highlighted by the fizzy "I Don't Like Your Band," one of three songs produced by
Paul Epworth (
Bloc Party,
Florence and the Machine). Nearly as ensnaring as "Chewing Gum,"
Annie’s taunting, attitudinal wordplay is in top form, with "It's not you, it's your tunes" closely followed by a pointedly insincere-sounding "I feel bad." 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. The worst of all, "The Breakfast Song," has a chorus and call-and-response that resemble a flabby
M.I.A. parody. [Some copies came with a bonus disc, the All Night EP, which included "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" and some other material that originally leaked prior to the album's release.]