Oh has Vehlinggo got a great premiere for you today! After retiring their beloved Italo Disco project in 2016, Johan Agebjörn and Sally Shapiro are back with a collaboration with Italo legend Ryan Paris — he of “Dolce Vita” fame. I can’t stop listening to “Love On Ice” and I’m sure you’ll be in the same boat.
“Love On Ice” is a key part of a truly killer original motion picture soundtrack for forthcoming Swedish film Videoman (AKA Videomannen), directed and written by Kristian Söderström. The film centers on a down-on-his-luck VHS collector and a 1980s-obsessed woman going through hard times; they fall in love over their shared anachronistic existence and a little adventure.
Does “Love On Ice” mean Sally Shapiro is out of retirement? Not really, Agebjörn told Vehlinggo recently.
“The Sally Shapiro project is not really ‘brought to life’ again, but when asked to record a track together with legendary Italo Disco artist Ryan Paris, we couldn’t resist,” he said.
The collaboration of acclaimed Swedish Italo Disco revivalists and a singer who had a big Italo hit in 1983 with “Dolce Vita” is a perfect fit to feature on a soundtrack like this. Lakeshore Records is releasing the whole Videoman soundtrack digitally on Bandcamp and other outlets Friday, Jan. 26.
Look Who Else Is on the ‘Videoman’ soundtrack
International synthwave stars Robert Parker and Waveshaper handle score duties for Videoman, with the former taking up the heart-centered cues and the latter tackling the edgier moments.
Like a good ’80s soundtrack, it features a mix of cues and songs. In addition to the premiere cut for today, Agebjörn also collaborates on a song with American Italo Disco guru Tom Hooker. Joining them all on the tracklist are folks like Moto Boy; Main; Sveinung Nygaard & Niki Yrla; and Femmepop. The entire collection amounts to some of the best synth-laden songs out there right now. I look forward to everyone getting a chance to buy it on Friday.
Here’s the full tracklist:
What’s ‘Videoman’ about?
Videoman stars Stefan Sauk (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Swedish version), Martin Wallström (Mr. Robot), and Lena Nilsson (The Sandhamn Murders).
According to press materials, the film is about a VHS collector with a drinking problem who finds a valuable movie that could save him from eviction. When the movie gets stolen, he starts a desperate hunt for a perpetrator. An alcoholic woman obsessed with the ’80s is a victim of workplace bullying and struggles to develop a relationship with her grown up daughter. These two outsiders joined by nostalgia and broken dreams start a romance and make each other self aware, a step in the right direction when trying to solve their respective problems.
(Update, Jan. 26.)
