Everyone’s favourite gum-chewing tune spinner joins forces with fellow Norwegian, acclaimed Fine Artist Bjarne Melgaard, and notorious “underground” filmmaker Richard Kern for pro-LGBTQ rights anthem “Russian Kiss” – a slaughteringly sensual audio/visual kick against Kremlin oppression…
In a change from her usual sweet n’ sassy vocals,”Russian Kiss” hears Annie drilling our ears with drone-like incantations and emphatic whispers, rabble-rousing her attentive audience with the licentious repetition of “Give me a kiss…give me a kiss…” over and over.
It’s not quite the the woozy glitter-licked stylings of 2004’s ‘Anniemal‘, or even her more recent EP with on/off collaborator Richard X but the overall effect is infectiously empowering nonetheless. Midway through the song Melgaard‘s deep heady breaths writhe, climax and fire feverously over the electric rat-a-tat-tat beats & pulsing synths, groaning provocatively as everything speedily builds and hammers into a raving bare-skinned war cry!
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBO7F0PJP48[/youtube]
As for the visual side of things, Dir. Richard Kern serves a stimulating kinetic spread of locking lips and gyrating skin, breathing life into the video’s banal pastel backdrops that would otherwise resemble a Dulux ad. Although, without reading too much into a mere few seconds, Kern might be using these colours to play with the rules of heteronormativity, with two men kissing over the pink and two women over the blue in the first two glorious make-out scenes…
The whole piece is basically a fierce orgy of tongues and defiant ‘direct-to-camera’ stares, in which the cast not only rebel against extreme prejudice but also passionately celebrate exactly who they are.
“Show your love for the lovers, the others, the fighters, outsiders, people like you.”
Now, more than ever, is the time for every artist to amplify their outrage over Putin’s anti-gay “propaganda” regime, to use their music as a rallying weapon and make the dance floor/stage a podium to show their support. Songs might not conquer laws but if the powerhouses of pop were to blow us a million more Russian Kisses, I’m sure we’d feel a stronger community for it. Thank you Annie & Co.
You can purchase the “Russian Kiss” single right now, with parts of the iTunes proceeds going to allout.org.
“Fight for the universal right to kiss the one you love wherever you like, regardless of sexual orientation.”