anfan - little storm

anfan 

little storm
self-released; 2016

3.5 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Simon Panneton aka anfan is a guy from Montreal who makes music as a hobby. There’s nothing wrong with that in fact I think most starting musicians should view it like that. Do it for the love of the craft. The focus shouldn't be making a career and being adored by millions of fans. If that does happen it will be a nice surprise rather than an expectation. 

​Panneton used the DIY standard Garageband on his release little storm and all the instrumentation sounds like virtual instruments. It’s a fairly standard palette of soft synths, electronic percussion and some more odds and ends. 

I can’t say Panneton is a naturally gifted vocalist but he gets the job done. He is sometimes a little flat or sharp on the notes. This is a situation where auto-tune may have been beneficial. Panneton opens with “I'm going out with my friends tonight.” The song goes on a bit long and repeats “I'm going out with my friends tonight.” Musically, the song revolves around airy synth and dream-like elements. Overall, a good opener and a song that gets better the more you listen to it. 

I have to think the song “Last night I dreamt you almost kissed me” has to be some kind of tip of the hat to “last night i dreamt that somebody loved me” by The Smiths. There are a number of other songs which seemed to be inspired by Morrissey in the lyric department. The song has forward momentum and good beat. On top of that the structure is inventive and dynamic, I thought the song had a good floe

“The circle of your arms” is a seven-minute song. It was another solid track but I still thought it could have benefited from some brevity. As the album progresses the highlights were the melancholy “The fever of your skin against mine” and “The girl who made time stop like it was nothing.”

Overall, the album was enjoyable. Although the could have used some studio polish I thought the singing was heartfelt. The lyrics seemed to echo that as well. The instrumentation didn't blow my mind but worked for the songs and felt like it supported his vocals in a good way.

​little storm is far from perfect but has some inspired moments. I’d say as a hobbyist who does this in his spare time that this album is a success.

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