Legendary Hong Kong band An Id Signal has just released their new album《悲喜交集的路綫》in 13 years. It has been more than a decade since they have released an album, and their fans have been longing for it. An Id Signal became popular in Hong Kong’s local scene for making gut-wrenching and poetic songs with a mix of post-hardcore and emo rock, which their fans call “soul punk”. Their fans also say their songs are ever-changing, it is always in progress, and their live shows are the best versions of themselves.《悲喜交集的路綫》comes with 8 songs, with most of them around 4 minutes long, and some are even longer than 8 minutes. Just like a lot of post-rock songs, the songs are more slow-paced, and feature long-lasting guitar notes and riffs. However, what stands out for An Id Signal, both in this album and in their previous songs, is the fact their a lot of their works portray images of Hong Kong, making them a band that can really represent the city, and that is why people like them so much.
There are a few songs that really stood out in this album. The first one is 幸福感. To me, this is one of the heavier songs. The song has a lot of hard-hitting syncopated hits, making it sound like a song made by the popular British band Loathe. There is also a very fitting vocal effect in the song, it sounded as if the vocalist 禮 is singing and telling through an old telephone box. I feel like this song would be amazing in a live setting. I can definitely see people moshing and dancing to the hardcore-ish vibes of the song. As the song went on, it sounded more and more punk, with catchy melodies to sing along to. Overall, this song sounds very emo, and with its poetic lyrics, it makes the song a deep and fun one to listen to. The second song that I think is pretty special is 虔誠地演. Just like the previous song, this song has interesting lyrics, but this one feels like the vocals are telling a story more than reciting a poem. The whole vibe of the song made me feel like I was in a dystopian county fair, it sounds quite dark, and the melody was eerie at times. To put it easily, this song is like a rock version of a King Krule song, and being a King Krule fan, I absolutely love this.
水晶is the second last song in the album, and I think it is one of those songs that deserves to be streamed more. The song is a Slowdive vibe post-rock ballad. Lots of half-time beats, heavy guitar riffs, and a screamo vocals of course, listening to this song brought me back to the 2000s. The lyrics of this song are really well written too. The song talks about someone being trapped in a space, and it talks about his situation and his story, which invites us to think about whether we are like that in life, and how sad it is to live a life like that. The last song of the album, also the main song of the album, is called 悲喜交集的路綫, which is what the album is named after. The song is fairly long, being 7 minutes, but it is not boring and repetitive at all. The song revolves are a guitar riff, and builds into different directions and parts revolving around it. There are some ups and downs in the song, making it feel like a very full story. Some parts are very rock, great for a live setting, where people would DEFINITELY mosh to, and there are also parts that are quieter, and listening to it made me feel like I am on a boat sailing by myself, swinging left and right in the vast ocean. This song provided a great ending to the album, it captures what An Id Signal is. In the crossroads between joy and sadness, we might have to wait another 10 ten years for another album, but who knows, maybe we get to witness their performance in the near future, showcasing their song’s fullest potential.
– Matt Lam
You can can find links to listen to the album HERE.
