Anniemal

Norwegian singer/songwriter Annie (Anne Lilia Berge Strand) makes her full-length debut with what must surely be the year's sunniest album. Not since the days of The Tom Tom Club, Bananarama, and "Lucky Star"-era Madonna, has dance-pop been this fun, this bouncy, this unabashedly optimistic (1999 single "Greatest Hit" even samples the latter's "Everybody"). So don't say you haven't been warned: Anniemal is a pretension-free zone. With its "Oh no, oh no / You've got it all wrong / You think you're chocolate / But you're chewing gum" refrain, 2004's insanely addictive single "Chewing Gum" is the jewel in this sparkling crown. The R2D2-like bloops and bleeps and Annie's sweet "ah-ah-ahs" and "la-la-las" just make it shine all the brighter. Hippie-disco extravaganza "Come Together," which tops the seven-minute mark, is another standout, while the sentimental "My Best Friend" is, arguably, the only clunker on one of 2005's most notable releases. --Kathleen C. Fennessy