From Film Competition to Global Recognition

What started as an entry in a music competition for the Danish film Pusher II became a track with a life of its own. In this article, I’ll reflect on the unexpected journey of Sad Disco—and how a suspicious email led to a surprising collaboration.

When I first composed Sad Disco, it wasn’t even supposed to make it onto the soundtrack of Pusher II. In fact, it started as a submission for a competition to find incidental music for the film. I entered it without thinking much of it, but to my surprise, Nicolas Winding Refn and his music director liked it so much that they decided to feature it more prominently in the actual soundtrack. That was the first time I realized this track might have a life beyond what I initially imagined. One review from CineVue even described it as “a haunting, hypnotic backdrop to the film’s darker themes,” which made me feel like the music had done its job.

Then came a strange twist in the story. Years later, I received an email from a Hotmail.com address that looked, frankly, pretty suspicious. It claimed to be from Mark Lanegan, asking about covering Sad Disco. I thought it was an elaborate hoax at first—why would someone like Lanegan be emailing me out of the blue? But then he sent me a draft mix of his version, and that’s when I realized it was real. He took the original and completely transformed it, adding this heavy, brooding atmosphere that only he could. He extended it, renamed it Ode to Sad Disco, and made it something altogether different but still recognizable. The Guardian called it “a brooding masterpiece,” and I agree—it’s something special.

I was deeply saddened to hear of Mark Lanegan’s passing. He was an extraordinary musician with a voice like no other—dark, raw, and full of soul. Collaborating with him, even in this indirect way, was an honor. His music touched so many lives, and it’s hard to believe he’s no longer with us. The world lost a truly unique artist.

In 2018, Sad Disco made its way into another film, this time the French movie Shéhérazade. The director, Jean-Bernard Marlin, used the original version of the song as the title melody, which felt surreal. Set in the rough streets of Marseille, the film needed something to reflect the raw emotions of the characters, and Sad Disco fit perfectly. Hearing it in the context of such a deeply emotional, street-level love story was incredible. A critic described the track as “a minimal electronic pulse that mirrors the film’s stark, urban reality,” and I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Thanks to streaming services like Spotify and SoundCloud, the song has continued to find new listeners. I’ve seen people remix it, add it to their playlists, and discover it for the first time through these platforms. It’s wild to think that a track I originally wrote for a competition has now touched so many lives and gone on this strange journey—from Danish crime films to French dramas, and even to Mark Lanegan’s dark reimagining. Music has this amazing way of evolving and connecting with people in ways you can’t predict, and I’m just happy Sad Disco continues to resonate.