Caan - Now Hear This My Friends

Whilst the passing of Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s Charles Haddon’s was indeed tragic, former bassist Caan Capan is moving on through such troubled times as a solo artist. Positively enough, slight pulses of OELSP energy still remain. However, ‘Now Hear This My Friends’ eventually fails to reinvigorate and develop the same potential that Capan’s former band possessed.

The mechanised drums and a white washed synth are the closest you’ll get to the electricity contained in OELSP’s debut ‘The Golden Year,’ whilst Capan’s voice sheens with boy band cleanliness as opposed to Haddon’s anguish. Everything comes together to seemingly build into the usual catchy OELSP chorus.

Instead, the result is a rather frustrating tease. The single does not shift significantly from its trickling and aspirational piano melody and it all becomes one long deteriorating verse. It is more ‘Golden Year’ filler than hit. All remaining excitement is soon gone by the time the limp and lifeless final climax decides to rear its head. It is not the worst single ever but it is not the most exciting either, and perhaps that energy needs more time to grow before it can realise its full potential.