Valentino Vivace – Discoteca Vivace
Switzerland’s rising star of Italo Disco, Valentino Vivace, presents his sophomore album. A short burst of retro vibes, neon lights, and tropical nights. It is an escape from the grey reality.
Hot and humid night. Glittering lights. The dance floor is clear for Valentino Vivace.
After his self-published debut, Meteoriti, in 2022, the Swiss Italo Disco upstart his sophomore album, Discoteca Vivace. The title is a promise.
Vivace’s work is short but concise: If we ignore the opening Preludio and the Interludio (prima dello slow), he leaves us with six tracks. With this runtime, we’re more in EP territory. But let’s just leave this technicality aside for now.
First, if Italo Disco isn’t your thing, you keep far away from Discoteca Vivace. All that’s waiting for you are sticky and sugary tracks that celebrate 80s nostalgia. Neon lights, Lamborghini Countach, palm-lined coastlines, tropical nights. And yeah, this sound has a feverish erotic quality.
As Valentino Vivace explains in the press release, the album’s concept is pretty simple: «The idea of the album was to represent the different moments of a club night. From the pure energy of Italo Disco to the endorphin-fueled climax of the night, and finally to the slow, dreamy tracks at six in the morning when the sun rises again.»
Deep basslines, flickering synths, catchy hooks—it’s all there. Sometimes, Vivace takes it slow, as in Ti sento or Baia Degli Angeli, his hommage to the deceased Italo Disco pioneer Pino D’Angiò. But then, there are Hulahoop, Eroi, or Anima romantica, the faster-paced, vibrant bangers. They are—similar to previous tracks like Autoradio or Insieme—designed to stir euphoria and shower you with dopamine, and do so successfully.
Discoteca Vivace is a short-lasting burst. But for someone like me, who is not hugely invested in the genre, it’s actually the perfect length. The production is tight, a significant improvement from Meteoriti, and there’s a consistency in songwriting connecting the tracks to an intriguing offer, pushing the initial ideas to the next level.
Only Hype?
Maybe more of a concern than a criticism would be the overdose of retro vibes. With this album, Vivace doubles down on this exaggerated version of something perceived as vintage sound. Acts like Hurts or Crimer spring to mind, cooking with similar recipes. Initially met with frenetic hype, it‘s hard to maintain a larger audience. All hypes ultimately die down; enjoy it while it lasts.
However, Valentino Vivace’s challenge will be to evolve the sound into something more contemporary and remain fresh and surprising.
But today, that‘s still all hypothetical. Discoteca Vivace offers you all the shades of Italo Disco you could wish for—the soothing slow dance and the pumping and thumping anthems. And the sound’s hedonistic, devil-may-care attitude unifies an undeniable, sprawling coolness and a desire for escapism.
Valentino Vivace – Discoteca Vivace
Release: 24/01/2025
- Preludio
- RGB
- Hulahoop
- Baia degli Angeli
- Interludio (prima dello show)
- Ti sento
- Eroi
- Anima romantica
