Live with Lizzy!- The Anello, Next 2 Me EP Release Party
18-9-15
One of our fabulous critics, Laurella Jose, loves hearing live music and seeing local bands play. We've had the demand to cover the music scene in Hong Kong for years but didn't have a passionate, music lover with the skills to take it on. We present a new series to HKELD called, Live with Lizzy!
Lizzy will be talking to us weekly about music events she attends, Hong Kong's developing indie scene and bands she loves.
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The Anello is a Hong Kong based duo mashing indie, electronic and R&B. With Jeff Anello on vocals and Michal Garcia handling keys, electronics and trumpet, The Anello’s sound is definitely not what I usually lean towards and it’s quite safe to say my first impression differed greatly to my second. The music on soundcloud didn’t click well with me. Looking them up beforehand, I thought it kind of funny, the pairing they made. I picked up the vocals as not typical for where the indie scene is presently portrayed, especially in Hong Kong.
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The launch of their new EP, Next 2 Me was held at the Hidden Agenda and this is where the impression turned around. The thing about The Anello that I missed the first time was the message of their sound. Their website describes them as a collaboration, and their presence on stage gave new meaning to their lexical choice. Their sound felt like a string of musical PSAs society needs right now. It stood for strength, pride and a good beat. It was happy - refreshing amidst the bands that focus on the “I” of things. The “I can’t get the boy” and the “I wanna party” ‘s. It was always “we” and “our” with The Anello.
The Next 2 Me EP contains three song, Next 2 Me, Explode and Chill 2. Next 2 Me is definitely very catchy. And Chill 2 has some damn sexy trumpet floating around.
Their music positively resonates with the crowd they attract. It’s easy to go to a music event and be bombarded with those snobby pretentious *beep* *beeps*. And no I’m not saying every other indie band does attract that crowd, but the Anello just had that feel good vibe that directly translates onto their fan base.
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The Anello are definitely better live. The stage presence, the acoustics elevate them. The audience interactive freestyle on stage was fairly impressive (aka Jeff I want that on a playlist). The chemistry and flow between the pair is very obvious on stage. A cheeky fist bump I caught before they started a next song that transitioned well into an upbeat serenade made such apparent. The vocals were on point and the trumpet seemed to make it ten times better. They sounded like cleaned up indie – smooth sound with lyrics straight to the point.
Awhile into their set, Jeff mentions how it’s been a good year for them. As it has appeared to be and well deserved might I add. For the last 8 months, the two have been touring Asia, they have appeared on the Clockenflap stage as well as given a TEDxWanchai talk, one that I personally think you should check out.
Overall, The Anello impressed me live. Their sound is still definitely very niche but their message and vibe is something that everyone can appreciate. I look forward to seeing how they progress from here.
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