“Annie, Pick a Flower.. (My House)”

Saya Gray’s “Annie, Pick a Flower.. (My House)” slips from your grasp right when you think you’ve placed it. “Think of a flower/Any flower,” the Japanese-Canadian artist coos, and as if following your imagination, a sprightly synthesizer sprouts up like a bud. Quickly, the mood shifts. A phone pings; strings tense up. Gray’s shrill accusations—“I let you into my house!”—claw you in and refuse to let go. Then the storm clears, and the song rides an idyllic bossa nova groove. The character of Annie first appeared in “Annie, I Sing For..,” an equally mercurial highlight from May’s QWERTY EP, but noting this doesn’t elucidate much else. The song’s internal logic is seemingly known only to its maker, but confusion is half the fun.