Saeed Habibzadeh “Lost Men”
Lost Men tells the destruction of love in the hands of violence and wars with music. Setting in the fast-paced world of mafia, the film music record marks the very first from the multi-talent composer, Saeed Habibzadeh. With soundscapes filled with love and tears, the epic album wonderfully and painfully choreographies the tenderness and innocence of love with a melancholy undertone. Under the stormy sky is a world filled with violence and danger, however precious the love is, is destined for a tragic end. Lost Men reminds you of Shakespeare. These violent acts have violent ends.
With a heavy heart, Habibzadeh leads the listeners into the belly of the underworld with an untold story about love. Lost Men is hard to shake off. Its blood-stained melodies are haunting as the story they hold together. The tear-jerking album is richer than any soundtrack you’ve heard. Rather than music for film, it’s Habibzadeh‘s own creation of film music.
The composer draws listeners into each scene with intricate changes, signaling moments of suspense and danger. “Assassination” paints the heaviness and suffocation of a crime. Yet, the composer tells it with great compassion. It’s the hint of tragedy that hovers over the cold, dark soundscapes that reminds you the consequences behind death—the loss and grief of loved ones, and a life that never sees its potential. Beyond the tragedy and love, Habibzadeh reminds you of that.
Even in tender and magical moments, such as “Falling in love” and “The first kiss,” the saddened undertone is unescapable. It’s the mournful theme of Lost Men. It echoes in the church organs, in the wailing and weeping of the strings and brass. There are so many emotions in the melodies, being carried out amongst different instruments.
Habibzadeh did a great job bring out the different shades of light and darkness with orchestration. Brass family, the warm, glorious horns, in Lost Men, paints a retro, fallen sense of glory, mixed with guilt and secrets. The emotive and contrasting strings, are the ghosts of suspense and tragedy in this album. While the woodwinds paint the magic and fragility of blossoming, though short-lived dreams. The instruments are hardly unfamiliar in Western films. But they remind us of composers in the romantic period. Tchaikovsky, in particular, is a name that comes into mind.
More words are being said though no word is spilled. That’s the magic of Lost Men. “Wait for me at home” and “Nightfall,” the two pop ballads, co-written by Susann Offenmuller and Habibzadeh, then concludes the story with stunningly touching songs that are destined to stuck in everyone’s head after listening. Like “Young & Beautiful” in The Great Gatsby, they are woven into the core storytelling and aesthetic of the project that feels like it can’t live without. Stick to the end, and the end will surprise you.
Read our interview with Habibzadeh and learn more about the stories behind Lost Men.
Punk Head: I love how haunting and cinematic Lost Men is. The album is meant for a mafia film. Can you tell us more about it?
Saeed Habibzadeh: The album Lost Men is my first experience composing a film music album. It came out of my heart full of love and longing in the spring of 2023 in the mountains of Switzerland. I produced it in my own studio and funded it myself. Maxima Manni took on the technical challenges. Although she is only 16 years old, she has done true engineering work and realized everything technically with a lot of commitment and love.
The album Lost Men tells the story of the destruction of the love and dreams of children and young people by power and rulers and their wars. It tells how gentle and fragile love is and that without love nothing makes sense.
The album Lost Men wants to touch people in their hearts and remind them of their oldest wishes and longings. We all long for peace, harmony, joy and love.
It is time for violence to end and for us all to live in friendship and harmony.
PH: Which song do you like the best and why?
Habibzadeh: I feel deep love for all the tracks on this album. All of them tell episodes from the story. But I am most touched by the last piece "Wait for me at home". This composition often made me cry because it expresses my deepest feelings and makes them musically audible. Susann Offenmüller sang the song as well as the other single "Nightfall" with such intensity that it took my breath away again and again. "Wait for me at home" sings the soul of the young woman who lost her boyfriend through violence. She sings to him through the stars and tells him to wait for her at home in paradise since this world has not allowed a union in love.
PH: Can you tell us more about you as an artist?
Habibzadeh: I am 60 years old and I was born in Tehran, the capital of Iran. When I was 14, I saw fanatical Islamists destroying the country. When I was 16, Iraq attacked Iran and war broke out. At the age of 18, I was a soldier in the war myself and had to experience for two years how ugly violence is. At 21 I left Iran forever and lived in Germany until the end of 2021. Since the end of 2021, I have been living in Switzerland.
I never learned or studied music. Everything I know, I have taught myself or I have brought it along from other incarnations. I also compose classical music. My first 11 works, including my three symphonies, two piano pieces, orchestral pieces like “Capriccio The Heavenly Celebration”, “Summer Festival Waltz and the Magic of the Elves”, “Swiss Waltz” and my first organ piece "Toccata and Fugue for the Glory of God" as well as a duet and a quartet have been published.
My next project is a film music album for James Bond and will be dedicated to the great Daniel Craig because he inspired me to do it (more information at www.saeed-music.com/en).
My heart also beats for wisdom and healing people. I have published 6 books, with another 10 in preparation (more information at www.saeed.eu/en).
PH: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Habibzadeh: My biggest inspiration is my own heart which inspires me and gives me music. After that, it's Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Saeed Habibzadeh: I want to answer two questions with a big smile when my final hour has come: what do I leave behind in this world and what do I take with me?
I am open to any collaboration and I warmly welcome everyone.
Whatever happens, time has taught us that love is always the answer, the solution and the way. Give love wherever you can. Even an ocean is made up of little drops that give water!
