Annie - “Anniemal” (Big Beat) The release of this electro-pop gem must have been terribly bittersweet for 25-year-old Norwegian Anne Lilia Berge-Strand. The project began in 1999 with the recording of “The Greatest Hit,” a bouncy dance track that samples Madonna’s “Everybody.” Annie’s boyfriend, Tore Korknes, produced the song and it became a minor dance hit. Tragically, before the couple could return to the studio Korknes died at 23 of heart complications.

“Anniemal,” released overseas in 2004 and the U.S. earlier this summer, is a fizzy 12-track potable that makes the sample in “The Greatest Hit” seem prescient. Pop music probably hasn’t been this sunny since The Material Girl’s own debut. Producers Richard X, Torbjørn Brundtland (from critical faves Röyksopp) and Timo Kaukolampi build the tracks around Reagan-era computer drums and bass then add a liberal dash of electronic bleeps and bloops for seasoning.

Annie’s delicate, sugary voice fits the bright production — but you can’t shake the feeling there’s sadness underneath all the shine. This shadow of melancholy, maybe all in our minds due to Annie’s backstory, gives the album an added weight that keeps it from floating away like an untethered balloon.

Key three: “Chewing Gum,” “Heartbeat,” “The Greatest Hit”

Natasha Bedingfield - “Unwritten” (Epic) “Unwritten” brims with melodious earworms that bore straight into your brain. With production by pop heavyweights Patrick Leonard (who collaborated with Madonna on some of her biggest hits, including “Live To Tell,” “Like A Prayer” and “Frozen”), Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams) and the team of Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton and Wayne Wilkins, that’s to be expected.

The surprise is that the blockbuster (which debuted at number one in the U.K. last year and yielded three number one singles for good measure) still feels personal. Bedingfield, younger sister of Daniel Bedingfield (“Gotta Get Through This,” “If You’re Not The One”), composed the lyrics for “Unwritten” over a few years while she shopped demos to the labels. Her songs address the issues you’d expect from a twentysomething — love, relationships, empowerment — but mostly avoid cliché.

Bedingfield took the U.S. release of “Unwritten” as an opportunity to tweak the project. Among the changes to the now 13-track album are the addition of two new songs, “Stumble” and “The One That Got Away,” new mixes of “These Words” (the first U.S. single) and the title track along with the inclusion of a guest rap by U.K. star Estelle on “Drop Me In The Middle.”

Key three: “These Words,” “Single,” “Unwritten”

Juliet - “Random Order” (Virgin) Juliet Richardson’s edgy, danceable debut feels like a pop artifact from the future. You can just imagine Rick Deckard blasting “Random Order” in his flying car while tracking renegade replicants through circa-2019 Los Angeles. (That’s a “Blade Runner” reference if you’re feeling lost.) The album’s dark, muscular soundscapes crackle like a high voltage wire that’s fallen onto a rain-soaked boulevard.

Musical chameleon Stuart Price (a Brit who DJs and remixes as faux-Frenchman Jacques Lu Cont and issued 1999’s “Darkdancer” under the name Les Rythmes Digitales) is responsible for the arresting production. In an odd twist, he’s also the man behind the boards for Madonna’s “Confessions.” However the albums compare, one area where “Random Order” will surely have the advantage is Juliet’s rich voice, which alternately recalls Pat Benatar’s full-throated wail (“Au”), that languid half-talking half-singing thing Dido does (“Pot Of Gold”) or even Madge’s own breathy trill (“Waiting”).

At press time first single “Ride The Pain” had just ascended to the top spot on “Billboard” magazine’s Club Play chart. The aggressive electro track, highlighted by Juliet’s intense whisper-to-a-scream vocals, heralds the arrival of our next important dance artist. Make room, Madonna.

Key three: “Ride The Pain,” “On The Dancefloor,” “New Shoes”

Sound Bites: Sarah McLachlan releases her second remix album, “Bloom,” Sept. 6 on Arista. The set contains 10 previously unreleased remixes by Rollo (Faithless) and Mark Bates (Dusted), Junior Boys, Gabriel & Dresden, Hyper & Ronnie, Junkie XL, Thievery Corporation, Sly & Robbie, and Talvin Singh…“Vivian,” the second album from R&B singer/songwriter Vivian Green, is in stores now. First single “Gotta Go Gotta Leave (Tired)” has been making waves for a while and there’s more to come from the Columbia set.