Caan

Caan Capan has fast become a legend in his local Camden Town, all credited to his musical pedigree as one third of the semi-cult (euphemism) electro-pop trio Ou Est Le Swimming Pool whose rise to fame was abruptly aborted by the demise of lead singer Charles Haddon in the summer of 2010.

In these two years, Caan, then a backing vocalist with OELSP, has matured into a singer-songwriter in his own right, and as he is putting the finishing touches to his debut album, due out later in the year, has independently released the two singles ‘Now Hear This My Friend’ and ‘Every Little Thing’.

Tonight, it’s freshly mohawked that he takes to the Dingwalls stage for his loyal fanbase.

He kicks off with a new song, ‘Stills’, sadly plagued by poor PA and overkill reverb which do not do justice to his naturally powerful falsetto.

But things get better as he launches into the well-crafted tune, ‘Somewhere Else’ onto a personal favourite in ‘The Riot Act’. Before playing his imminent third single, ‘Into The Night’, he throws in a rework of Japan’s ‘Ghosts’ (because he is cool like that). But the crowd really goes bonkers on the finale track (and well-picked debut single), ‘Now Hear This My Friend’, so much so that Caan feels compelled to join them for a bounce.

So there you go, in just 45 minutes, though there’s still room for improvement in the showmanship compartment, Caan has ascertained a genuine knack for anthemic synth-pop suggesting his time as a local messiah may be up and onto greater things to come, starting with a UK tour launching next weekend via the cities of Leeds, Southampton, Glasgow and Manchester (all info on www.iamcaan.com).

Caan’s third single, ‘Into The Night’, comes out on 11th June.

Picture: Matt Perkins