Fridae

Slowly but surely the masses are starting to warm up to Anjulie. After she treated us to a more alternative pop vibe and aesthetic on her critically-acclaimed debut album, the Canadian pop singer goes straight up pop on her forthcoming new LP. "I always wanted to do pop," she told me when we met a few weeks ago in Los Angeles. She added, "I have been inspired by all the major pop icons of the past and I want to make music like that."

Her wish came true with the release of "Brand New B*tch," a track the exclusively premiered on ArjanWrites.com before the summer and went on to the top of the Canadian music charts. The song is gaining momentum in the U.S. as well and is currently #3 on the Billboard Dance Chart, which has compelled Universal Republic to push the track to top 40 radio in January. A European release should follow shortly as well.

Now that "Brand New B*tch" has caught fire, Anjulie continues to fuel it with the release of the video for her second single "Stand Behind The Music" today. The colorful mini music flick depicts a mad frenzy in downtown Los Angeles that has been set on fire by protesters carrying flags and signs who are about to clash with the riot police. A scene that seems very much inspired by the Occupy movement and fits a year that Time Magazine has called The Year Of The Protester. 

In a moment of peace, Anjulie raises her fist and steps onto the barricades to make her point while performing "Stand Behind The Music," an anthemic pop gem about standing up for what you believe in no matter what that is. "Show them how we do it," the singer proclaims. "All the fame, all the girls, all the modern in this world, they don’t mean shit (. . .) Hands up here with the new. Stand behind the music." 

"Stand Behind The Music" is very much a battle cry for Anjulie herself who felt toyed around with by the music industry for a long time, but who has now finally found her true voice and is not afraid to use it. "Just name a genre, yes I've done it," she raps for a hot second. "And for the first time in my life, I'm doing my shit. I can't stand this pop tart candy, those getting famous, getting naked, getting randy." Words that underline that Anjulie is going to do pop her way and is no longer taking "No" for an answer.