Since their first album ‘Disco Romance’ in 2006, vocalist Sally Shapiro and producer Johan Agebjörn have had their brand of Italo-tinged melancholic pop enjoyed by the music cognoscenti all over the world.

After two more albums ‘My Guilty Pleasure’ and ‘Somewhere Else’ as SALLY SHAPIRO, the duo retired and Agebjörn embarked on a variety of solo and collaborative work including with Samantha Fox, Ryan Paris, Yota and Mikael Ögren. Although Sally had made guest appearances on Agebjörn’s solo tracks, perhaps unexpectedly they signed to Italians Do It Better in 2021 and returned with an album ‘Sad Cities’ the following year; it was almost like they had never been away.

However, this new long player ‘Ready To Live A Lie’ is possibly the duo’s darkest yet. The dreamy moonshine optimism of first love on ‘Disco Romance’ has shifted towards a midlife narrative that encompasses struggles in long-term relationships, love triangles, boredom, resentment and loneliness. While the words have a bittersweet weariness, sonically the music remains supreme. As on ‘Sad Cities’, Italian Do It Better head honcho Johnny Jewel joins Agebjörn at the mixing desk in keeping with the label’s house aesthetic.

The album gets an energetic yet atmospheric start with ‘The Other Days’. But with syndrums and piano runs as well as a SALLY SHAPIRO twist, ‘Hard To Love’ co-written with one-time Agebjörn collaborator QUEEN OF HEARTS offers that breezy melancholic air of PET SHOP BOYS; and speaking of whom, the cover of ‘Rent’, which came out as a single in 2023, provides a first person account of its relationship dependency narrative with a Nordic wispiness.

‘Purple Colored Sky’ provided an effervescent pop statement but as Sally would be ‘Happier Somewhere Else’, this gets reflected in the latter’s paced back tone. The marvellous ‘Guarding Shell’ though explores post-relationship trust issues and drops in the same D-50 preset used on OMD’s ‘Big Town’ in the intro before hitting classic SALLY SHAPIRO mode.

With looser jazzier rhythms while planted firmly in disco, ‘Hospital’ offers something a bit different as its keyboard lines get caught in a wonderful spin while ‘Did You Call Tonight’ borrows a topline from RÖYKSOPP ‘Remind Me’ for some sparkling goodness and vocodered responses to the chorus call.

The Euro-house drive of ‘Oh Carrie’ bangs on the album’s home straight complete with ivory stabs, gently spoken verses and uplifting sung choruses before closing with two ballads. The love lament ‘He’s Not You’ is the synthier of the pair while ‘Rain’ goes the full piano room with suitably forlorn vocals before the appearance of choir samples, Rhodes and field recordings.

Johan Agebjörn said of the album’s darker demeanour “We live in the era of lies. We deceive ourselves, our partners, and those around us”, but despite the tales of deceit running throughout the album, ‘Ready To Live A Lie’ paradoxically comes as a rather uplifting listening experience in its relatable themes. As Sally put it “Perhaps, at times, we need these deceptions to get by. Maybe loneliness is somehow inescapable and we simply do our best to navigate life.”

‘Ready To Live A Lie’ is released on 30th May 2025 via Italians Do It Better, pre-order via https://idib.ffm.to/readytolivealie

https://italiansdoitbetter.com/sally-shapir/

https://www.facebook.com/shapirosally

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https://www.threads.net/@sally_shapiro_official

https://bsky.app/profile/sallyshapiro.bsky.social

https://sallyshapiro.bandcamp.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
28th May 2025