Sad Cities

The Swedish duo Sally Shapiro were supposed to have called it quits in 2016, with vocalist Sally Shapiro and instrumentalist/producer Johan Agebjorn going their separate ways. Little did anyone know that the pair continued to work on music on the sly, eventually joining forces with Johnny Jewel to create new tracks for an album on Jewels Italians Do It Better label. The first thing to come out of the rejuvenated duo was the "Fading Away" single in mid-2021 and it showed that not much had changed for them. Still juxtaposing Shapiros delicate vocals over bubbling synths and the robotic beats of Italo Disco, the song was a welcome return and a slight shift in direction, with more synthesizers and a sleeker arrangement. The album that followed in 2022, Sad Cities, used a similar template. While there are some tracks that would have fit in perfectly on previous albums -- especially the swooning "Forget About You," a near-perfect ice ballad that will be on side one of their greatest-hits album -- most of Sad Cities takes the original concept and tweaks it in interesting ways. "Believe in Me is an insistent slice of Pet Shop Boys-style electro, "Christmas Escape" does away with beats in favor of sweeping synth strings and bells, the sticky sweet ballad "Dulcinea" sounds like Swedens entry in Eurovision 1986, and on "Tell Me How," they go further down the neon noir road they explored a little in the past. These are pretty mild diversions from the past; bigger swings are the soft rock-inspired tracks "Down This Road" and "Love in Slow Motion." Agebjorn concocts a slick backing full of pillow-soft pads, rippling guitar solos, and twinkling pianos for Shapiro to sing wistfully over, and against all odds it works very well. Almost as surprising are the songs that update the kind of light dance-pop Madonna perfected in the mid-80s. The duo had already done a wonderful cover of "Holiday" for an Italians tribute album; here they knock out a couple of tracks that sound like Madonna on her saddest day ever. Both "Sad City" and "Falling Clouds" have the requisite snap and strut, Ageborn does a masterful job of re-creating the featherlight feel, and Shapiro proves up to the task of starring in the reboots. "Million Ways" is even moodier and moves off center a little to recapture the fast-stepping techno pop of Cathy Dennis circa "Just Another Dream" -- heady company for sure, but the duo are up to the task. Sad Cities is the best kind of comeback album; one that has just the right amount of nostalgia baked into the grooves, but also adds in new sounds and approaches. Shapiro and Agebjorn certainly do that and the album is a reminder of just how good heartbreak disco can sound when delivered by people who understand it so well. ~ Tim Sendra