For anne - don't expect better

For anne

don't expect better​
self-released; 2017

3.3 out of 5

By Dan Weston

For anne is a solo project that recently released a lo-fi demo entitled don't expect better. It’s comprised of vocals and guitars and that about it. You can make some comparisons to early Mirah, Waxahatchee and Liz Phair.

The music has a sad teenage girl bedroom journal confession quality that you most likely have heard before. With lyrics like “I hope you like me too” and “I see you walking on campus”. It’s very simple music in plenty of ways. The guitar playing is very basic consisting of mostly strummed major and minor chords. Suffice it to say the guitar playing isn’t the strong aspect of these recording.

These songs are all about the lyrics and vocal melody. On that note I had a hard time making out the lyrics. I had to concentrate and even then I couldn't make some of the  words. Some of this is due to how lo-fi this is and some of this is due to her delivery. She has a nice, enjoyable  “girly” voice for lack of a better word but she needs to work on pronouncing her words since it's such an important aspect to this sparse music.

Upon first listen the five songs could be one song. There aren’t many differentiating factors. He strumming style is slightly different and her vocal melodies are also similar. At the very least this can be seen as a positive as it builds a foundation for her.

The songwriting certainly isn’t too shabby and she does a good job finding catchy melodies. On that note there are lots of things that can elevate her music to the next level. I’m not asking her to have the technical chops of Kristian Matsson but getting to a second year guitar student level can open up a lot of possibilities for her songs.

This is a case where I might suggest working with a producer to help her find her voice and handle some of the technical demands which can get the  recordings closer to the standards of some of the aforementioned artists that were an influence on her music.

I think this artist has a good amount of potential but for right now falls into a case of wait and see. I’m wish her luck and hope to hear more soon.

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