New Release: Nero - Into The Night

January 08, 2016 Critic Jonni 0 Comments



Nero have come a long way from when they first started, and yet I still feel that they're trailing behind. They have had one or two hits here in the UK, "Promises" was definitely massive for it's time, with their song "Guilt" just as popular, and yet they've died down since and didn't really push themselves when they were at the top of the charts. This isn't their fault and many other bands and singers have followed both before and after them. But this is where the charts are at, and it just takes one song, as usual, to become a worldwide hit. "Promises" may have been their song, but many will follow if they keep at it. Nero transports itself into the anime world, a narrative and a performance piece set in a fictional graphic story.

Nero is a three-piece band consisting of Daniel Stephens, Joseph Ray and Alana Watson. They are from the UK, and have released a string of singles from their first album with "Promises" and "Guilt" being their biggest hits, and "Me & You" charting just outside the top 10. Lately, their singles from their second album have not charted so well. As for the album overall, it too underperformed. This can't be the end of Nero, definitely not. This is a band who doesn't give up, so they will definitely come back fighting.

This was directed by Markus Lundqvist and co-directed by Daniel Stephens. The animation was done by Red Knuckles, who have actually done quite a few things, including the animation for Britain's Got Talent 2015 commercial. This studio might just do some more in the future, that we will all be aware of.

This one is done good, you can feel for each of the characters. The story line is interesting. The guy and the girl wants to run away together, into the night, but they need money to do so. So, he kind of gets some drugs and delivers them to some big fat crazy guy, who owns a club called Satisfy (possibly a connection with their song "Satisfy" which they released as the first single from their second album), who then gives our main character a case with no money in.

He's been made a fool of, and gets shot at, luckily missing every bullet, as well as surviving a grenade, that practically blew up in his face. He calls his girl, who gets upset and seeks out to find him. Then they have a street race together for fun.

As for the performance side of things, Nero looks good as anime characters, and Alana is pulling of the swish moves, as I call it. Which we definitely see a lot of, but no more so than in Caramell's "Caramelldansen"/"Caramelldancing".

This isn't the only link, Britney Spears famously became an animated character in "Break The Ice". Which this video definitely reminds me of.

However there is an error, as one YouTuber pointed out... There are six vials in the first clip, when the case is first opened, but when the robot takes two out for the evil monster, there is only five. Continuity errors are extremely important, even if this is anime. A simple vial cannot go missing!

Overall, great song and a perfect relatable music video. One that I will remember but still not quite understand, there's no background on this thing, where did the vials come from? How did our main character get involved in this? Why is it so important? And where did vial number six disappear to? The questions are left unanswered, and that is the way it's supposed to be.
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