Sun and Moon (Anees song)

"Sun and Moon" is a song by American artist Anees. It was released on April 6, 2022 as the lead single from his debut album, Summer Camp. The song was written by Anees alongside songwriters Kevin Spears, Sekko, and Zach Matari.

"Sun and Moon"
Single by anees
from the album Summer Camp
Released6 April 2022 (2022-04-06)
Length2:31
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Anees Mokhiber
  • Wessel Okkes
  • Kevin Spears
  • Zach Matari
Anees singles chronology
"What Lovers Do"
(2021)		 "Sun and Moon"
(2022)		 "Leave Me"
(2022)
Music video
"Sun and Moon" on YouTube

Dedicated to his wife Liz Mokhiber, "Sun and Moon" is described as a guitar-driven love song.[1][2] A remix featuring Filipino musician JRoa was released to streaming platforms on April 14, gaining the song's popularity in the Philippines, especially on TikTok. "Sun and Moon" climbed to number one on Billboard Philippines Songs, staying at its peak for five weeks as the first international song to top the chart.[3]

An official music video was released on April 21. Both Anees and JRoa included the track as part of their respective tours. Anees has also performed the song in Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Genius' Verified.

Background

Original

In November 2021, Anees previewed the chorus of "Sun and Moon" to his social media accounts to positive response, leaning into R&B and a departure from his rap sound.[4] He released "Too Good to Be True" featuring Kevin Spears as a follow-up to this new style, with Spears producing both tracks.[4] Anees continued to preview snippets of the track before being released officially to streaming platforms on April 6 and confirming it as his lead single for his debut album.[5]

Remix

To promote the song, Anees launched an open verse challenge on TikTok upon its official release.[6] On April 11, former Ex Battalion member JRoa uploaded his version to the site.[6] Anees reached out to JRoa to record a full duet to the song, releasing the official "Sun and Moon" remix on April 14 with an accompanying live performance video of both acts performing from different locations.[3][6]

Composition

Anees announced that "Sun and Moon" is a tribute to love and adoration, adding "it's a romantic little lullaby".[7][8] Unable to remember its clear songwriting process, he wrote the song in dedication to his wife: "I knew there was something completely different about her that I was not going to find elsewhere."[2] The lyrics "dream girl" is written as an allusion to the dream girl concept or about a specific person in someone's dream.[2] The first verse is composed as a profession of eternal romance, while the second verse described the indescribable ethereal feeling of falling in love.[2]

Music critics described the song as a guitar-driven R&B-pop track. Baby A. Gil of Philstar defined its sound as "light pop melody with a touch of R&B and includes a very pronounced hook".[3] Lyrically, "Sun and Moon" is defined as a juxtaposition of ideas, depicting feelings of longing and regret, vengeance and satisfaction, selfishness and sacrifice, fortune and fate.[4]

Commercial performance
Anees became the first international artist to top Billboard Philippines Songs with "Sun and Moon", peaking at number one for five weeks.[3][9]

After the release of its official remix and music video, "Sun and Moon" debuted at number three on Billboard Philippines Songs on April 26, 2022 – for the week ending dated April 30, 2022 – becoming Anees' first entry on the chart.[10] The song rose to number one on the chart dated May 7, making "Sun and Moon" the first English song to reach the summit and Anees as the first international artist to top the list.[3][11] The song stayed at five weeks at number one on the chart.[9] On Spotify Philippines, the song gathered 509,869 streams on April 29, marking the highest daily Philippine streams of a track so far in 2022.[12] As of March 2023, the track has gained 99 million streams on Spotify, becoming Anees' most streamed song.[3][13]

Elsewhere, "Sun and Moon" peaked at the top 10 of the daily chart of Spotify UAE and at number 17 on New Zealand Hot Singles.[12][14] In the United States, the track debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Songs Breakers Chart and reached #2 on Genius’s Global Chart.[7]

Music video

The music video for "Sun and Moon" was released on April 21, 2022.[15] Directed by Issa Kaddissi, the video featured Anees serenading a girl seated at the audience from onstage, ending in applause. Behind the video's direction, Anees stated how "it felt natural to put the music video and set it on a stage in a small little auditorium that maybe even felt like a spoken word vibe."[8] He added how the addition of mannequins as part of the auditorium crowd was purposeful: "They take up the seats, they’re not even real. It’s still just a one-on-one."[8] The video has received over 10 million views as of March 2023.[15]

Live performances

Anees performed "Sun and Moon" live for the first time months before its release on January 20, 2022 at Bar Lubitsch, Los Angeles, United States.[16] An acoustic version of the song was released with Zach Matari on guitar on May 3 to his YouTube account.[17] On May 28, Genius uploaded their Verified episode of the song with Anees singing the song's lyrics and detailing the song's composition.[2]

On June 28, Anees makes his debut televised performance of the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to kick off the Summer Camp Tour in promotion of his album.[13][18][19] Anees confessed to Zainab Mudallal of The Washington Post how dream-like was his experience on the program: "Six months ago I created that song right here in this seat, and then to see that within half a year, I was able to go on one of the biggest stages in the planet and sing it to the world, it’s crazy."[20]

JRoa has included his version of the song in Canada Filipino Hip-hop Fest 2022, his joint Canadian tour with fellow Ex Battalion members Flow G and Skusta Clee.[21] "Sun and Moon" was performed from November 11 in Calgary up until JRoa's last show on December 3 in Vancouver.[21]

Impact

Regarding the song's rise to fame, Anees commented how hearing the youth playing the song changed him: "I don’t think you could ask for anything more beautiful than for children to be listening to your music. Children have the purest spirits, purest heart, purest ears. If they are getting down with your music, you’re doing something right in my opinion."[8]

Following the popularity of the remix, several Filipino artists have covered the song, including Matthaios,[22] Arthur Miguel,[23] and BGYO.[24]

In Philippine popular culture, an orchestral version of the song was declared as the "official school hymn" of the "International State College of the Philippines", a satirical educational institution and meme on Facebook.[25][26][27][28][29] The lyrics of JRoa's Tagalized chorus of the song was declared as the institution's mission and vision on its website.[30] Parody branches of the Facebook page also included a campus bearing the song's name (Sun and Moon Campus).[31] Constantly using the song as an essential part of its meme branding, the page garnered more than 600,000 followers and reached 25 million users organically on the social media site in its first week of infancy.[32]

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from Anees official site.[5]

  • Anees Mokhiber – lead vocals, songwriter, producer
  • Kevin Spears - producer, songwriter
  • Wessel Okhes - songwriter
  • Zach Matari - producer, songwriter
  • John Roa - rap, vocals, songwriter (remix)
  • Raul Lopez - Mix Engineer
  • Berlin - Mastering Engineer

Charts
Weekly chart performance for "Sun and Moon"
Chart (2022) Peak
position
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[14] 17
Philippines (Billboard)[11] 1

Release history
Region Date Format Ref.
Various April 6, 2022
[33]
United States August 16, 2022 Contemporary hit radio [34]

References
  1. Bedirian, Razmig (April 11, 2021). "On the Move - Anees Mokhiber". Hathihe Ramallah. Vol. 71, no. 2. Michigan, USA: Wayne State University. p. 12. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  2. "Anees "sun and moon" Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified". YouTube. May 28, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  3. Gil, Baby A. "Meet Anees, Philippines current No. 1 selling singer". Philstar.com. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  4. Rincón, Ally. "anees Never Fails to Wears His Heart On Sleeve / Ones To Watch". Ones To Watch. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  5. Mokhiber, Anees. "anees electronic press kit". anees. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  6. Bonoan, Christian (April 21, 2022). "Anees Taps J Roa For "Sun And Moon Remix"". MYX. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  7. Robinson, Sophie (September 22, 2022). "Q&A: From Law School to Love Songs, anees Talks "Leave Me," Upcoming Tour & Debut Album". THE LUNA COLLECTIVE. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  8. Bergel, Tori (June 1, 2022). "Anees Is Happy for You to Tell Him What His Music Means". Washingtonian. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  9. "Listen: Anees' 'Sun and Moon' enjoys 5-week stay on top of Billboard Philippines Songs". RadyoNatin. June 8, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  10. Cusson, Michael (February 15, 2022). "Philippines Songs April 30 2022". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  11. Cusson, Michael (February 15, 2022). "Philippines Songs May 7 2022". Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  12. "anees - sun and moon - Spotify Chart History". kworb.net. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  13. Halperin, Shirley (August 26, 2022). "Connection With Scooter Braun Leads to 'Leave Me' Collaboration for Virginia Songwriter". Variety. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  14. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. April 16, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  15. "Anees - Sun and Moon (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  16. Lee, Derrick (January 20, 2022). "Anees Performs For The First Time In Los Angeles For WFNM". Blurred Culture. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  17. "Anees - Sun and Moon (Acoustic Video)". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  18. Schwartz, Noah (July 12, 2022). "anees Gears up for His First "Summer Camp Tour"". Sheesh Media. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  19. Jorden, Erik (June 28, 2022). "ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Show Guests | Week of June 27, 2022". DiscussPW. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  20. Mudallal, Zainab (July 26, 2022). "Anees wants to bring everyone back to summer camp for his debut tour". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  21. "Canada Filipino Hip-hop Fest will feature Skusta Clee, Flow G, and J. Roa this November". Manila Concert Scene. November 4, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  22. "Anees - Sun and Moon ft: Matthaios and Jroa (Remix)". YouTube. April 12, 2022. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  23. Miguel, Arthur (April 23, 2022). "Sun And Moon (anees) Cover by Arthur Miguel". YouTube. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  24. "BGYO JL sings "Sun and Moon" by Anees | PPOP Tiktok Update". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  25. "Class is in session: What in the world (and sun and moon) is the International State College of the Philippines?". l!fe • The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  26. Castillo, Calvin (August 13, 2022). "International State College of the Philippines: The Meme School Taking the Internet by Storm". PALAWAN NEWS. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  27. Suralta, Bryle (August 18, 2022). "In the Year 2090, Four ISCP Alumni Have Become Philippine Presidents". Esquire. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
  28. Bautista, Rafael (August 9, 2022). "8 Reasons Why You Should Enroll At The International State College Of The Philippines". Nylon Philippines. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  29. Maramara, Kyzia (August 8, 2022). "This Satire Facebook Page Has the Funniest College Courses". 8List.ph. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  30. Aranas, Alexander (August 30, 2022). "Tatak ISCPanian: Lumalaban dahil may ipinaglalaban". Explained PH | Youth-Driven Journalism. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  31. "5 Funniest Things About PH's Popular Satire University". The Beat Manila. August 24, 2022. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  32. Lasin, Gelo (August 10, 2022). "Who is ISCP founder and satirist Niño Ged?". WE THE PVBLIC. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  33. "Anees - Sun and Moon (Official Audio)". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  34. "Top 40/M Future Releases | Mainstream Hit Songs Being Released and Their Release Dates".
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