Vargas & Lagola is a Swedish songwriting and production duo of Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir.
They 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.
Career
Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir have gone from successful solo artists to Swedish Grammy Award winning songwriters and producers. Among the first co-writes together are Avicii’s 2013 Billboard Hot 100 single "Hey Brother" and "Younger" by Seinabo Sey.
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. In 2014 they wrote numerous songs on Mapei’s album Hey Hey and Avicii’s "The Days" and "Divine Sorrow" (with Wyclef Jean). 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.
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.
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.
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". 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. On 5 December 2019, Vargas & Lagola performed at Avicii’s Tribute Concert in Stockholm.
Vargas & Lagola's debut album The Butterfly Effect was released in January 2020.
Discography
Albums Title Details Peak chart positions SWE The Butterfly Effect Released: 31 January 2020 Label: Salem Al Fakir AB / Baby Hurricane AB, Universal Music Format: Digital download, streaming 16 Mount Alda Released: 30 October 2020 Label: Salem Al Fakir AB / Baby Hurricane AB, Universal Music Format: Digital download, streaming 24
Singles As lead artist + List of singles, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album SWE "Rolling Stone" 2017 — rowspan="8" "Dolores (The Awakening)" — "As Long As I Have To" — "Sun Is Shining (Band of Gold)" — "More Than You Know (Acoustic)" — "Roads" 2018 17 GLF: Goldhttp://www.sverigetopplistan.se (Click "search all records" and view 17 February 2017. Then click "visa" on "I Love You") "Selfish" 2019 — "Shores" 61 "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
As featured artist + List of songs, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Album SWE US Dance "Friend of Mine"(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 22TIM "Tough Love"(Avicii featuring Agnes, Vargas & Lagola) 2 9 "Excuse Me Mr. Sir"(Avicii featuring Vargas & Lagola) 30 34
Songwriting and production credits 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"PrismAvicii "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 - EPAvicii "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"
Songwriting and production credits for local Swedish artists 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"
Awards and nominations Year Awards Category Nomination Outcome Ref. 2014 Swedish Grammy Awards Composer of the Year Vincent Pontare, Salem Al Fakir & Magnus Lidehäll The Swedish MPA Awards International Success of the Year Vincent Pontare, Salem Al Fakir & Magnus Lidehällrowspan="5" 2015 Swedish Grammy Awards Composer of the Year The Swedish MPA Awards International Success of the Year Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir 2016 Swedish Grammy Awards Composer of the Year Vincent Pontare, Salem Al Fakir, Magnus Lidehäll & Seinabo Sey 2018 Swedish Grammy Awards Composer of the Year Vargas & Lagola The Swedish MPA Awards (together with STIM) Most Played Song 2017 Axwell Ʌ Ingrosso – "More Than You Know" The Swedish MPA Awards Song of the Year Avicii - "Without You" (feat. Sandro Cavazza) 2019 The Swedish MPA Awards (together with STIM) Most Played Song 2018 Avicii - "Without You" (feat. Sandro Cavazza) 2020 Swedish Grammy Awards Producer of the Year Avicii, Vincent Pontare, Salem Al Fakir, Albin Nedler, Kristoffer Fogelmark, Carl Falk, Lucas von Bahder, Marcus Thunberg Wesselrowspan="2" Swedish Grammy Awards Composer of the Year Avicii, Vincent Pontare, Salem Al Fakir, Albin Nedler, Kristoffer Fogelmark, Isak Alverus, Carl Falk, Joakim Berg, Lucas von Bahder, Marcus Thunberg Wessel, Martin Svensson
References
External links