Call Me by Your Name Mixtape

In Ti amo il venerdì sera (I Love You Friday Night), Italian DJ act Lemandorle transport us to the weekend world of clubs and night life, probing feelings of desperation, inadequacy, and mysterious, fleeting connections that sweep us away in the early hours of the night. “Maybe you love me, but I don't even know you” is the melancholic realisation at the core of this refreshingly cool cocktail of a hit.

This track was featured in the first season of the Italian teen series SKAM Italia, and serves our playlist as a modern interlude capturing those same feelings of teen angst.

Fotonovela sparkles. Synth-backed accordion instrumentals, conjuring up images of old world Italy as well as the song's latin origins, blend seamlessly with twinkling xylophone and soaring strings in this slick yet obscure 80s dance track. Enrobed in this quixotic soundscape, Spanish hearthrob Ivan sings about liberation from a love affair that was more telenovela than romance.

While probably more at home in the discos of South America, it's not hard to imagine this track finding its way to Oliver that night he captivated Elio on the dancefloor.

“I've got you under my skin where the rain can't get in” murmurs The The frontman Matt Johnson, recalling infatuation driven to obsession. It's easy to picture this 1983 post-punk track in Elio's mind, face buried in Oliver's swim trunks… But Oliver would equally have much to love about this sophisticated, janky sleeper hit, inspired by New York's club scene, and dripping with gorgeous piano solos.

In Andre Aciman's original telling of Call Me by Your Name, it's Rome where Elio and Oliver escape to for their final week together, not the quaint little getaway depicted in the film. How fitting then that at number 4 on our list we have Beshken's The Roman Call, allowing us to catch our breath while serving us a fresh slice of Roman chic.

If disco is dead, it died on the dance floors of Italy. Combining dance, synth and electronic music, Italo-disco (Italy's own disco twist that was in reality more new wave than disco) kept clubs buzzing all over Europe well into the 1980s.

Over its relentless beat, Mi Amor keeps the buzz alive with its cool refrain “the summer sun is shining mi amor/I need your loving”.
Oh Elio!

Formed in 1985, Plastic Mode were a short-lived Italian/American Italo-disco concept led by Mario Boncaldo.

Smooth jazz never sounded so good as this song from Sade's 1985 album Promise. The melody, deliciously mysterious, smoulders with Sade Adu's famously dark vocals. Perhaps the only jazz entry, Tar Baby provides welcome counterpoint to this mixtape's other 80s influences.

“The perfect hallucination” is perhaps the perfect way to sum up most summer flings. This haunting, off-kilter track by The Japanese House recalls meeting a lost lover in a dream. Capturing feelings of uneasy torment and helplessness, this track would all but feel like a sinking ship were it not rescued by Amber Bain's heartfelt lyricism. As with most summer loves, “All good things come to an end.”

It's one of the film's classic moments. Oliver dances, free, uninhibited, and apparently oblivious that but a short distance away Elio looks on, completely smitten, yet completely unable to express how he feels. The upbeat and aptly titled I'd Rather Danc With You puts it simply: When words fail us, perhaps the only answer is to dance.

Unapologetically and aggressively italo-disco, “Ti sento” (I feel you) is Antonella Ruggiero's full-throated cry in this thumping, operatic hit from Italian band Matia Bazar.

Striking fame as Italy's entry in the 1979 Eurovision song contest, Matia Bazar went on to have a string of successes in the 1980s, this adrenaline-fuelled track included. “It's a world that's bursting inside me/A shiver up my spine” Antonella's rages on an imagined dance floor. “Do you love me or not? Do you love me or not?”

A true classic in the Italian canon, Notte prima degli esami (Night Before the Exams) follows a lovesick boy the night before the notorious l'esame di maturità (final high school graduation exam), widely viewed as a coming of age moment in Italian life. On the eve of the exam, a momentous night of prayers, and tears, and cold pizza eaten over textbooks, the only thing on the mind of a young Antonello is Claudia. Far away yet close at heart, he looks fondly on the physical passion they shared, as the banality of study melts away.

Vinicio Capossela sings about love lost, a fateful crossing of paths, and shared pain in this exquisite southern Italian-inspired folk ballad. In a faraway Mexican summer, a chance encounter between two kindred spirits at a dance results in one unforgettable night. As his train leaves the station, our protagonist laments life's cruel realities that have brought things to a sudden close. Despite the bittersweet subject matter, wonderfully fresh, bright instrumentals brighten Ultimo amore (Last Love) and gently inspire us to latch on to moments of beauty, however fleeting.

There's something spiritual about this track. At once ethereal yet earnest, London Grammar frontwoman Hannah Reid's prayer in Wasting My Young Years is a commitment to being fiercely present, no holds barred, and putting it all on the line for the sake of love. The almost cathedral-like quality of this track (perhaps its the echoey reverb) lends it a meditative quality, allowing us space for contemplation.

This otherwise very contemporary track is featured in the Italian Netflix series Baby, following a group of rebellious students based in Rome.

In the music video for Souvenir, a shadowy figure Lurks around faux-Roman columns over a haunting electronic loop, somewhere in the English countryside. “My obession, it's my creation” a nostalgic, robotic Romeo sings over a balcony. More vaporwave than vaporwave, this unlikely 1981 hit from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark could equally fit the excavation scene in Call Me by Your Name where an antique bronze statue is brought to light. Perhaps this record would find its home in Elio's collection, recalling that day where everything changed.

Despite its slick production and hooks that sparkle, Faces remains a hidden gem of the italo-disco era. The beguiling lyrics (“I'll never walk on the sun till we can't find a way to love”) are somehow made alluring by Maria Perugini's cool delivery over a punchy, relentless beat that leaves us hitting replay again and again. This smooth, sophisticated track is the product of short-lived italo-disco project Clio.

MGMT bring us on a nightmare trip with this second single from their 2018 album Little Dark Age. Psychelic, summertime instrumentals lead us through visions of death and desolation, as the band express their frustrations with the wider world, expertly navigating dark territory through their acclaimed lens as masters of alt rock.

Even as Elio is held hostage by his own desires, one of the few ways he manages to express himself in front of Oliver is through music. In one of Call Me by Your Name's more gleeful moments, Elio is finally allowed to show off the full range of his piano ability, effortlessly traversing styles and genres as Oliver leans in the doorway.

Perhaps Lonely Shade of Blue, a tender, soul-searching piano ballad by Nick Leng, would one day find it's way into Elio's repertoire. Delicate, mournful, and full of emotional weight, this finely crafted track makes for a perfect window into Elio's heart.

LEONI (LIONS) is Francesca Michielin's refreshing, upbeat ode to summer sun. Flowing in through the window to give you a warm hug, it then “hides in the dark of the night and wakes you in the morning”.

Peeking below the surface, you'll see this track is better seen as a prayer for a more hopeful world. “The lights block out the stars/we'll invent some even more beautiful,” Francesca sings. Life is an open book, and tomorrow, we will be lions.

In the spectacular, dazzling, rotoscoped sci-fi music video to No Tengo Dinero (I got no money) Italian duo Righeira amp up the 80s aesthetic all the way to a hundred. Floating over Tron-inspired textures, geometric oddities resembling Rubik's cubes flash and pulse in this thumping italo-disco treat. If Love My Way (of the Call Me by Your Name official soundtrack) took acid and moved to the beach, it would sound a little something like this.

Framed by his angelic vocals, Muddy Monk (Guillaume Dietrich) transports us to synth-fuelled stasis with this dreamy, bossa nova-inspired track from his debut album Longue Ride. Based out of French-speaking Switzerland, Dietrich mixes sounds using his trademark toy-size synth keyboard (often used as a performance instrument) to create tracks which are simple yet elegant.

All dressed up with nowhere to go, the most beautiful girl at the Sassofono Blu waits idly in hope of meeting the man of her dreams. One fateful night, lightning strikes, propelling her into a whirlwind 80s romance.

One of Italy's quintessential summer hits, Amore Disperato (Desperate Love) makes for a fun, nostalgic companion to the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack's other Italian diva hit, J'adore Venise.

Take a hit of the love drug and see where it takes you. That inescapable feeling, when you're so in love, you swear a symphony is playing inside your head. That's the feel-good message behind this dreamy track by Genoese band Ex-Otago.

In their 2017 album Marassi, the band explore new territory in electronic music, creating a chill soundscape that captures the live and let love essence of summer.

This boozy rock record from New Zealand band Th' Dudes recalls warm summer nights spent letting loose and knocking back beers with friends.
Have I had one too many, or did the guy at the end of the bar just wink at me?

Released at the tail end of the 70s, Be Mine Tonight is also one of the few rock records to make our playlist. In the neighbourhood bar where Oliver made himself at home playing cards, one can imagine this track might've just been able to squeeze a spot in the jukebox.

Aging like a fine wine, Matia Bazar's trademark high vocals mix with breezy prog rock acoustics in this first single from their debut album Matia Bazar 1.
Stasera… che sera! (Tonight… What a Night!) leans into care-free festival vibes, revelling in a simple, passionate love where nothing stands in the way but a good time.

“My heart stopped beating when I was seventeen.” In this surprisingly heartfelt ballad to teen breakups, New York-based musician Bekon takes us back to those first forays of high school love, and all its pitfalls. Backed by heavenly ukuleles, a beautifully simple, self-reflective tale unfolds of love and rejection by his high school sweetheart, and the learning that eventually “the sun would rise again”.

The heavy bass in Retrograde, thumping in the background like a heartbeat, serves as the perfect backdrop highlighting James Blake's vocal range in this slick track from his 2013 album Overgrown. Together with James' judicious use of percussion and synth, the British artist sings about the adrenaline hit of first love, rounding out a rather gritty soundscape that brings to mind that potent night Elio and Oliver reunited on the balcony.

“Hold me now. Stay with me.” The message couldn't be simpler. If the rest of this playlist didn't have you dancing already, leave it to this unabashedly romantic synth pop classic to do the work.

Thompson Twins were an English new wave group, formed in London from a group of broke friends who were living together as squatters. With frontman Tom Bailey's vocal work, Allanah Currie on marimba and Joe Leeway on conga, Hold Me Now went on to become the band's biggest hit.

With a career spanning over 70 years and many of the genres in between, Ornella Vanoni has long earned herself a spot as one of Italy's most beloved artists. This record comes from her 1976 bossa nova-inspired concept album La voglia la pazzia l'incoscienza l'allegria, in collaboration with Brazilian artists Vinícius de Moraes and Toquinho. Senza Paura (Without Fear) is a delectably light crowd-pleaser of a track showcasing the full range of the group's folksy instrumentation.

From the soundtrack to the 2014 movie Boyhood, this gorgeous entry in our playlist speaks to the conflict of growing up but always remaining a child at heart. Filmed sparingly over a span of 11 years, Boyhood is a profound coming of age film following young actor Ellar Coltrane as he grows in real time before our eyes.

Composed by LA band Family of the Year expressly for the film, Hero manages to hit the same nerve as Call Me by Your Name, gracefully and thoughtfully exploring the difficulties of growing up and making a break with the past.

Inspired by the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack's classical aspects, Augustines is a refreshingly minimalistic piece by Canadian pianist and composer Louis-Étienne Santais. This along with Santais's other works such as La plage du Nord allow us a spot to unwind, creating an aura of quiet contemplation that spark memories of Elio practicing at home.

In the delightfully bizarre video clip for The Night, relatively obscure italo-disco artist Valerie Dore and her ensemble dance and sway in a full-frills aesthetic of head-to-toe white ruffles and lace. That this track remains a mild one hit wonder is hardly surprising, but underneath the layers is a nostalgic headbanger of a track, dripping in intergalactic 80s synth that'll having you gazing into the stars, searching for signs of alien life.
Valerie knows we are not alone.

In the thick the big city, where dreams are made and broken, a mournful Paul Buchanan meets his moment of reckoning. “Do I love you?” he cries out, the question as forceful as it is begrudging. The answer is a swift “yes, I love you!”

This smoky, sophisticated, soulful track, steeped in a kind of mournful drama, is masterstroke of Glasgow band The Blue Nile. In Buchanan's own words, Tinseltown is a metaphor. “It's whatever your dream is… whatever you lost.”

In stereotypically French fashion, young artist Lola Le Lann anoints us in cool waters with this nonchalant, starry-eyed single from the cancelled release of her debut album. Child of an acclaimed trumpeter and actress, Lola has spent equal measure behind the camera as in the recording studio. But it's tunes like Portofino, Soleil, and Lola à l'eau which have earned her a spot in our playlist, smooth and fluid like the ever changing tongues of the Perlman household.

Debuting at Italy's annual Sanremo Music Festival, Regina (Queen) marks a brief departure for Sicilian R&B singer and rapper Davide Shorty. Buttery smooth and with jazz influences aplenty, he beams about a girl caught up in life's dramas. But although sometimes it pours, in his eyes she radiates through it all. “With the sun in you hair/You become air.”

Regina features in his aptly titled 2021 album fusion., influenced by his career in the melting pot of London, and upbringing in Palermo.

There's something deeply mysterious about this obscure 80s afterthought.
“Time is running out,” croons international superstar Diana Ross, as the beat fires impatiently like a ticking clock. “It's all in your head.”
Perhaps it's this strange, delusional quality which propelled It's Your Move to fame as repackaged vaporwave classic Lisa Frank 420 / Modern Computing. But behind the aesthetic, this record offers us a kernel of something earnest. As Diana Ross entreats us to make a move, one can't help but imagine Oliver using it as a mantra of his own in the days after his rejected advance on the volleyball pitch.

As they dance around around each other, Elio, outwardly cool, hints at what lies beneath the surface. “Because I thought you should know” he mumbles wistfully, in between a puff of his cigarette. “Because I wanted you to know.”

Ever-present but never fully heard, the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack's Une Barque sur L'Ocean comes bubbling to the surface, aptly describing the beautiful turbulence within him. Perhaps serving as a second act, Diving with My Harpoon by Swedish pianist Franz Gordon mirrors those emotional undercurrents. Keys fall like raindrops, forming a melody that manages to be as simple as it is gripping.

With its stomping beat and eclectic instrumentation, the influence of gypsy music in Roma Fade is unmistakable, not least in the name. Adding into the mix is Andrew Bird's signature violin mastery, infusing this song with a kind of energy that lends itself to a chase. But peeling back the lyrics lies a story about us all as silent observers, and the power we can wield using only our gaze. As the song puts it, it can change and rearrange someone in ways beyond our intent.

In a film more about the things left unsaid, Roma Fade finds its place.

Freshly escaped from the bizarro world of French duo Les Rita Mitsouko, this Rocky Horror Show of a pop hit rages and convulses with the cathartic energy of circus leader Catherine Ringer.

The music video for Marcia Baïla, at once beguiling and brilliant, leaves much to be explained. And while the Marzia in Call Me by Your Name may share this track's namesake and French providence, the Marcia behind the music was a dance instructor and dear friend of the duo, who died suddenly. Their biggest hit, her name lives on through this rollicking, celebratory homage from 1984.

In the spirit of French duos, we arrive at a more contemporary example in Agar Agar. With hypnotic future pop tracks under their belt like You're High and Sorry About the Carpet, Paris-based artists Clara Cappagli and Armand Bultheel have carved out a name for themselves as wizards of carefree punk.

I'm That Guy, steeped in video game synth, pulses relentlessly. The only saviour from the onslaught is Clara's refreshingly deadpan delivery.

Made up of two rather shy good friends, Tears For Fears went on to become one of the 80s most successful new wave acts. With a string of hits powered by their deft songwriting, they achieved super-stardom in a new age of electronic music where drums and just about everything else became superfluous.

Head Over Heels is the band's big, anthemic ballad to dysfunctional love. Cathedral-like chimes herald us in to the inner workings of a man who has fallen in love and can't fully grasp why. Despite his torment, Roland Orzabal's smooth singing propel this track into a bona fide love song, and one of their greatest hits.

“If you go walking in the woods, don't follow the feeling.” Like much of the work by Milan-based indie due Coma_Cose, La canzone dei lupi (The Wolves Song) draws you in with the kind of slickly-produced melodies that have made the band famous.
But underneath the veneer lies a treasure trail of artful lyrics, some poetic, some cryptic, which earworm their way inside your head. They come together to create a kind of haunting mystique, conjuring up images of lovers as lone rangers, roaming a world where nothing lasts forever, “except the wolves and us”.

In La collina dei ciliegi (Hill of Cherry Trees) an enlightened young Lucio Battisti implores his lover to liberate herself from her conservative, cloistered world and join him, flying free in the land just behind the hill. There the sun always shines, but it's her own fear and prudence which prevent her from realising this vision of a better life.

The late Lucio Battisti, unlikely star, lived most of his career away from the spotlight; but though exemplary work such as this, he earned himself a treasured place as one of Italy's most influential singer-songwriters.