Anly (born January 20, 1997) is a Japanese pop singer-songwriter from Ie, Okinawa. She started playing the guitar at six years old, and started writing music in junior high school. In high school, she played live at various locations in Okinawa and Tokyo, allowing her to release two indie singles in 2015 before being signed to Sony Music Records. She released her debut single "Taiyō ni Warae" in 2015 and her debut album Anly One in 2017.
Biography
Early life and career
Anly was born on Iejima, an island in Okinawa, Japan. Anly started playing the guitar after her father bought her one at six years old.[1] Anly grew up without access to a computer or the Internet at home, and often listened to blues and rock CDs her father bought while strumming her guitar. After her father taught her the basic chords, she learned the rest mainly on her own up through when she was in third grade, at which time she began to play songs by ear.[1][2][3] She had wanted to be a singer from a young age, but because she wanted to sing her own songs, she began writing lyrics when she was in her second year of junior high school. The following year as a third year in junior high school, she also started composing her own music, and she thought about becoming a singer-songwriter.[4]
Due to there not being a high school on Iejima, Anly moved to Naha when she started high school.[2][3] Anly joined the marching band in high school playing the trombone, but continued to write music between club activities. She resigned from the marching band in her second year of high school when she became serious about aiming to be a professional singer-songwriter. Anly began performing at live houses on Iejima and later in Naha.[2][3][5] Anly released her first indie single "Sixteen" on January 19, 2015.[6] After graduating from high school in early 2015, she was selected to open for Miwa at a live house in Naha as part of Miwa's acoustic live tour Acoguissimo in June.[2][7] Later that year, she was discovered at a live house in Shimokitazawa, Setagaya, Tokyo and was employed as a reporter for J-Wave for the 2015 Fuji Rock Festival and the 2015 Summer Sonic Festival.[2][7][8] Anly released her second indie single "Bye-Bye" on August 26, 2015, which included a cover of Gabrielle Aplin's "Please Don't Say You Love Me".[2][9]
Major debut
Anly signed to Sony Music Records in 2015 and released her debut single "Taiyō ni Warae" (太陽に笑え) on November 25, 2015.[10] In 2016, Anly released her second single "Egao / Ii no" (笑顔/いいの) on March 23 and her third single "Emergency" on June 15.[11][12] Included on "Emergency" as a B-side is a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".[12] She released her fourth single "Kara no Kokoro" (カラノココロ) on January 18, 2017; the song was used as the final opening theme to the Naruto: Shippuden anime series.[13][14] Anly played a musician in the 2017 Japanese film Shinjuku Swan II.[15] Anly collaborated with Sukima Switch to release the single "Kono Yami o Terasu Hikari no Mukō ni" (この闇を照らす光のむこうに) on March 1, 2017.[16] She released her debut studio album Anly One on April 26, 2017.[17] Anly released her fifth single "Hokuto Shichisei" (北斗七星) on August 9, 2017.[18] Anly's sixth single "Venus" was released on November 29, 2017, and it included a cover of the Beatles' "Come Together".[19]
