interest in the album because she thought "the record sounds really European." The songs reached an international audience through online blogs, message boards, and file sharing networks before they had been released outside Scandinavia. This was more common for independent bands, and Annie became the first European dance-pop musician to cultivate an underground fanbase this way. 679 released the album in the rest of Europe during early 2005 but was unsure how to categorise and market Anniemal. It asked Annie about artists like Goldfrapp whose audiences 679 thought it should target. Uncertain that the album's Internet hype would significantly bolster the album's sales, the label did not heavily promote it. In support of the album, Annie opened for English alternative dance band Saint Etienne at several June 2005 gigs in the United Kingdom. Annie had never performed her songs live before the release of Anniemal, so replicating the sound of more electronic songs like "Chewing Gum" became a long process. By September of that year, the album had sold 20,000 copies. For its 7 June 2005 American release, Anniemal was distributed by Big Beat Records. To promote the album, Annie performed a set of DJing gigs in the United States for the Anniemix Tour during late June and early July 2005. She and Kaukolampi spun vinyl, and Annie performed her songs during the tour. Before the tour began, Anniemal was selling over one thousand copies per week in the US, and it went on to sell a total of 22 thousand copies there. Although it did not chart on the US Billboard 200, Anniemal reached number thirteen on the Top Electronic Albums chart. When released in Australia the following year, the album failed to chart on the ARIA Albums Chart but peaked at number twenty-five on the Dance Albums Chart. Anniemal sold a total of over 100,000 copies worldwide. Singles "Chewing Gum" was released as the album's lead single in September 2004. Built around a retro beat by Richard X, the song uses chewing gum as a metaphor for men, with Annie singing "You spit it out when all the flavor has gone/Wrap him round your finger like you're playing with gum". It was the album's most commercially successful single, reaching number eight on the Norwegian Singles Chart and number twenty-five on the UK Singles Chart. It was also a critical success, listed thirty-first on the 2004 Pazz & Jop