One of the albums I purchased during my holiday was Darin's debut, The Anthem. Darin Zanyar was a contestant on Sweden's Idol programme and released his first single, Money For Nothing, written by the super-fantastic Robyn, last year. He now has another single out, a very boyband-y ballad called Why Does It Rain. Robyn isn't the only ace person who wrote a song for Darin's album. There is also a song written by Robin Thicke, known for writing Will Young's Very Kind and for his own single (released as simply Thicke), When I Get You Alone, which was one of my favourite songs of 2003. His song is the first track, Give It To Me. However, my favourite track of the album is written by Swedish pop songwriter genius, Max Martin. Unlike the rest of his recent work, it is in the pure pop style we originally knew him for, rather than the rockier style which has been winning him huge praise and MTV awards with Kelly Clarkson. I didn't think this song was any more than "quite good" until I listened to it one evening and soon found it so lodged in my brain that I had to put the CD on again when I went to bed to listen to this track on repeat - I was addicted! It is pure, cheery, wonderful pop music - the kind I love the most. Darin will be releasing a new album in September and the first single, Step You (could be an Ayumi Hamasaki cover!), is out soon. I haven't heard it yet but I look forward to it.