Mirror’s Anson Lo is a red-eyed vampire in Mr Stranger music video
Following the catchy song Megahit last year, Hong Kong boy band Mirror’s Anson Lo has recently released a new dance hit Mr Stranger.
The music video of Mr Stranger sees Lo transform into a red-eyed vampire, who struggles with his unique and “strange” identity. Similar to Megahit’s music video, for which he co-created the story, he also took it upon himself to produce the story of Mr Stranger’s music video.
“This time, I decided to courageously take up the challenge to create the song’s theme and the music video's story by myself. Honestly, it is a risky decision as I’m not a professional producer. But I really wanted to start 2022 with my most personal work,” he said on his Instagram. “This song marks the first time I come clean about my true mental state. I hope to share with everyone the source of the stress that I faced at the end of 2021 through this song.”
He went on to explain that he’s been getting increasing attention and was afraid to disappoint everyone and spoil the image others have of him. Even though these fears might stem from his imagination, he had been harsh on himself, which trapped him in a stressful environment.
As he looked back on his past, he felt “strange” as well, like he couldn’t recognise himself. Lo, who has been in the industry for four years, attributed this feeling to his changes and growth over the years. Now, he no longer fears the different sides of him, and will accept and show them to the world, just like the vampire in the music video.
He also highlighted that the singing style this time is refreshingly “strange” and that he was happy to pen the English rap lyrics, which read:
Just take a look, I’ma do it wild
Just made a way, screamed my name out loud (hey!)
Been fading and falling
Now running and rising
So who’s now standing here?
Hey Mr. Stranger
Well, you don’t know about me in a lot of ways
Ah, I need the flaws and all
Don’t tryna shut me off
I needa tear it tear it
Ready! Ready! Ready! Roar!
As the rap comes from the point of view of his inner demons, he sang the rap with a deeper voice. The song also employs a hoarse, antagonistic and helpless tone to signify the internal conflicts.
Lo likens “Mr Stranger” to how a monster (the vampire) tries to become a normal person or to adhere to an image that matches society’s expectations. Similarly, for the audience, a person’s different sides may also come across as an unfamiliar “Mr Stranger”.
The music video of Mr Stranger has since achieved more than 1.5 million views with fans praising the quality of the scenes and costumes, choreography and Lo’s performance and involvement in the music video.
