| Vargas and Lagola | |
| Origin: | Sweden |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Website: | http://www.vargasandlagola.com/ |
| Current Members: | |
Vargas & Lagola are a Swedish songwriting and production duo of Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir.
They have worked with many artists, including Avicii, Axwell & Ingrosso, David Guetta, Galantis, Madonna and Seinabo Sey. In addition to their songwriting and production work, they release alternative pop music.[1]
Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir have gone from successful solo artists to Swedish Grammy Award winning songwriters and producers.[2] Among the first co-writes together are Avicii’s 2013 Billboard Hot 100 single "Hey Brother" and "Younger" by Seinabo Sey.[3]
At the 2014 Swedish Grammy Awards Vargas & Lagola and Magnus Lidehäll were awarded Composer of the Year after writing for Veronica Maggio’s album Handen i fickan fast jag bryr mig and the Petter album Början på allt, and work with artists like Galantis.[4] In 2014 they wrote numerous songs on Mapei’s album Hey Hey and Avicii’s "The Days" and "Divine Sorrow" (with Wyclef Jean).[5] Vargas & Lagola followed up with another successful year in 2015 co-writing most songs on Seinabo Sey’s highly acclaimed debut album Pretend and songs for Madonna’s Rebel Heart album.[6] [7]
Vargas & Lagola have co-written some of the biggest hits by Axwell Ʌ Ingrosso – "More Than You Know", "Sun Is Shining", "Dreamer" and more - taken from their 2017 album More Than You Know.[8]
The duo have also contributed to two songs on Swedish rock band Ghost's Billboard 200-charting and Grammy Award-nominated album Prequelle, including the album's second single "Dance Macabre" which topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart.[9] [10] [11]
In 2018, the same moment as Vargas & Lagola blazed onto the alternative pop scene with the hit single "Roads", they shared the no.1 spot as Sweden's most streamed songwriters for songs including Avicii – "Without You (feat. Sandro Cavazza)" and "Waiting For Love".[12] After working closely with Avicii for several years, Al Fakir and Pontare played a key role in finishing up the 2019 posthumous Avicii album TIM and are featured artists on three of the album songs.[13] On 5 December 2019, Vargas & Lagola performed at Avicii’s Tribute Concert in Stockholm.[14]
Vargas & Lagola's debut album The Butterfly Effect was released in January 2020.[15]
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [16] | |||
| The Butterfly Effect |
| 16 [17] | |
| Mount Alda |
| 24 |
| Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | ||||
| "Rolling Stone"[18] | 2017 | — | rowspan="8" | |
| "Dolores (The Awakening)"[19] | — | |||
| "As Long As I Have To"[20] | — | |||
| "Sun Is Shining (Band of Gold)"[21] | — | |||
| "More Than You Know (Acoustic)" [22] | — | |||
| "Roads"[23] | 2018 | 17 |
| |
| "Selfish" | 2019 | — | ||
| "Shores" | 61 [25] | |||
| "Since 99" | — | The Butterfly Effect | ||
| "Forgot to Be Your Lover" | — | |||
| "Somebody That Understands Me" | 2020 | — | ||
| "Hurts to Be Hurt" | — | |||
| "Always" | — | Mount Alda | ||
| "Suddenly" | — | |||
| "Big Hearted" | 2021 | — |
Notes
| Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | US Dance | |||
| "Friend of Mine"[26] (Avicii featuring Vargas & Lagola) | 2017 | 5 | 44 | Avīci (01) |
| "Lev nu dö sen" (Petter featuring Vargas & Lagola) | 2018 | — | — | Lev nu |
| "Peace of Mind" (Avicii featuring Vargas & Lagola) | 2019 | 17 | 22 | TIM |
| "Tough Love" (Avicii featuring Agnes, Vargas & Lagola) | 2 | 9 | ||
| "Excuse Me Mr. Sir" (Avicii featuring Vargas & Lagola) | 30 | 34 | ||
| Year | Artist | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Swedish House Mafia | "Save The World" | Until Now |
| Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash | "Reload" | ||
| Dada Life | "Kick Out The Epic Motherf**ker" | ||
| Nause | "Hungry Hearts" | ||
| Avicii | "Silhouettes" | ||
| 2013 | Katy Perry | "Love Me" | Prism |
| Avicii | "You Make Me" | True | |
| "Hey Brother" | |||
| 2014 | John Martin | "Anywhere For You" | |
| Galantis | "Smile" | Galantis (EP) | |
| "You" | |||
| "Help" | |||
| Dada Life | "Born To Rage" | rowspan="2" | |
| "One Smile" | |||
| Mapei | "Blame It On Me" | Hey Hey | |
| "As 1" | |||
| "Second to None" | |||
| "Believe" | |||
| "Step Up" | |||
| "What's Innit 4 Me" | |||
| Wyclef Jean | "Divine Sorrow" | ||
| Avicii | "The Days" | The Days/Nights | |
| David Guetta | "Bang My Head" | Listen | |
| 2015 | Madonna | "HeartBreakCity" | Rebel Heart |
| "Wash All Over Me" | |||
| "Messiah" | |||
| "Rebel Heart" | |||
| Galantis | "Gold Dust" | Pharmacy | |
| "Dancin' To The Sound Of A Broken Heart" | |||
| "Kill Em' With The Love" | |||
| "Call If You Need Me" | |||
| "You" | |||
| Avicii | "Waiting For Love" | Stories | |
| Seinabo Sey | "Younger" | Pretend | |
| "Poetic" | |||
| "Hard Time" | |||
| "Easy" | |||
| "Words" | |||
| "Sorry" | |||
| "Still" | |||
| "Ruin" | |||
| "Burial" | |||
| "Pistols At Dawn" | |||
| 2016 | MishCatt | "Another Dimension" | Highlighter |
| Miike Snow | "Heart Is Full" | iii | |
| 2017 | Johnossi | "On A Roll" | Blood Jungle |
| Avicii | "Friend Of Mine" | Avīci (01) | |
| "Without You" | |||
| Toby Radall | "Hold Me Down" | ONE. | |
| Axwell Λ Ingrosso | "More Than You Know" | More Than You Know | |
| "Something New" | |||
| "This Time" | |||
| "Renegade" | |||
| "Sun Is Shining" | |||
| "On My Way" | |||
| "Dreamer" | |||
| Axwell | "Barricade" | ||
| 2018 | Seinabo Sey | "I Love You" | I'm a Dream |
| "Never Get Used To" | |||
| "I Owe You Nothing" | |||
| "Breathe" | |||
| "Good In You" | |||
| Ghost | "Dance Macabre" | Prequelle | |
| "Life Eternal" | |||
| MagnusTheMagnus | "It Don't Impress Me" | rowspan="2" | |
| "Calling" | |||
| David Guetta | "Light Headed" | 7 | |
| RØMANS | "Glitter & Gold" | ||
| Salvatore Ganacci | "Kill A Soundboy" | ||
| 2019 | Gryffin | "You Remind Me" | Gravity |
| Frank Walker & Astrid S | "Only When It Rains" | ||
| PRETTYMUCH | "Eyes Off You" | Phases - EP | |
| Avicii | "Peace Of Mind" | TIM | |
| "Tough Love" | |||
| "Excuse Me Mr Sir" | |||
| Otto Knows | "About You" | ||
| Ghost | "Kiss The Go-Goat" | Seven Inches of Satanic Panic | |
| "Mary On A Cross" | |||
| Agnes | "Intro" | Nothing Can Compare | |
| "I Trance" | |||
| "Not Dangerous" | |||
| "Interlude (What Is Wrong)" | |||
| "Limelight" | |||
| "Interlude (I Like To Sing)" | |||
| "Nothing Can Compare" | |||
| Mapei | "Ether" | Sensory Overload | |
| 2020 | Galantis | "Steel" | Church |
| "Unless It Hurts" | |||
| "Never Felt A Love Like This" | |||
| Agnes | "Goodlife" | ||
| Year | Artist | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Veronica Maggio | "Sergels torg" | Handen i fickan fast jag bryr mig |
| "Jag lovar" | |||
| "Hela huset" | |||
| "Va kvar" | |||
| "Låtsas som det regnar" | |||
| "Hädanefter" | |||
| "Dallas" | |||
| "Bas gillar hörn" | |||
| "I min bil" | |||
| Petter | "Mighty" | Början på allt | |
| "Början på allt" | |||
| "April" | |||
| "Håll om mig" | |||
| "Tills döden skiljer oss åt" | |||
| "King" | |||
| "Maj" | |||
| "Arbete" | |||
| "Alla vet" | |||
| "Fristad" | |||
| "Juni" | |||
| "Sitter på en dröm" | |||
| "Minnen del II" | |||
| "Släpp mig fri" | |||
| 2016 | Veronica Maggio | "Den första är alltid gratis" | Den första är alltid gratis |
| "Vi mot världen" | |||
| "Pang pang" | |||
| 2018 | Petter | "Kliv på!" | Lev nu |
| "Lev nu dö sen" | |||