Army of Lovers Deliver Revamped Classic ‘Israelism 2023’ Ahead of ‘Sexodus’ Album

Army of Lovers deliver a fresh spin on their 1993 hit Israelism, dubbed Israelism 2023. The revamped, slightly more dance-focussed version of the track arrives thirty years on and will feature on the Swedish alternative pop outfit’s upcoming November 24th scheduled album Sexodus. The number is set to be one of three revamped classic Lovers tracks.

Jean-Pierre Barda of the band shares: “30 years ago we made the song ‘Israelism,’ a celebration of my rich culture. It was initiated by my brother-in-arms Alexander inspired by myself and my Dominika, my beloved sister-in-arms. Loved performing this song – a celebration of love and peace. The word shalom means both ‘greetings’ and ‘peace,’ just like the Arabic ‘salaam’ – a bonus for me since I come from an Arabic-speaking Jewish family. Performing this song always gave me a goosebumps out of excitement and pride.

He adds: “Just as any countryman to its country, I don’t always agree with the different governments in power, but that doesn’t keeps us from living our country. This is the reason why the flag on the original cover is vertical: the blue stripes on the flag refer to the tallit, a Jewish prayer mantel making it a symbol for both country and culture.”

Concluding, Jean-Pierre shares: “To honour the anniversary of the song we were inspired to give a new and loving dancy groove to it. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did making it. And for those who are not familiar with the first version of this song, our new release will make you discover the original from 1993 (omg the last century!)”

The original version of Israelism was a Top 40 hit across Europe and further: charting in Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and reaching as far as Israel. The band will be hoping for similar global reach with upcoming album Sexodus. They have already released a number of cuts from the upcoming album including Olya Polyakova assisted banger Love Is Blue, Bring Your Love, Sexodus, Romanism and What’s That Look.

Lead photo:  Lotte Fernwall