EUROPE | One On One - Starring Peter Stormare
29/04/26 10:37
Patric Ullaeus Directs Europe’s New Video “One On One” – Starring Peter Stormare
Europe return with “One On One”, the first single from their upcoming album Come This Madness — their first studio album in nine years. The official music video is directed by Swedish filmmaker Patric Ullaeus, whose long-running creative relationship with the band goes back to the Last Look At Eden era. The video stars acclaimed actor Peter Stormare in a stripped-down, cinematic performance.
After nine years, Europe are back with new music. Their upcoming album Come This Madness is set for release on September 25, 2026 via Silver Lining Music / Hell & Back Recordings, with “One On One” marking the first single from the record.
The official music video for “One On One” was directed by Patric Ullaeus through rEvolver Film Company. Ullaeus has worked with Europe since the Last Look At Eden era, directing several of the band’s music videos as well as live productions and concert DVDs over the years. With “One On One”, the collaboration takes a new direction, more stripped-down, more actor-driven and clearly rooted in cinematic storytelling.
The video takes place inside a large abandoned warehouse. In the middle of the room, a man sits alone on a chair. He looks as if he has just survived a brutal fight. One leg is in a cast, one arm rests in a sling, his face is bruised, and his body carries the marks of physical struggle.
But when the music begins, the contrast becomes the heart of the piece.
“One On One” is a rock song, but the lyrics are about missing someone, distance and longing for someone who is no longer there. In the video, the emotional becomes physical: Peter Stormare’s character sits alone in an empty warehouse, bruised and broken, as if the body is carrying what the heart is going through.
“What interested me was making the feeling physical,” says Patric Ullaeus. “The song is about missing someone and wanting to reach her again. I wanted Peter to carry that longing in his whole body — not just in his face or in the words.”
The video stars Peter Stormare, internationally known for his work in Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Minority Report, Armageddon, Prison Break and John Wick: Chapter 2. For Ullaeus, working with Stormare meant approaching the music video format more like a short film than a conventional performance video.
“With Peter Stormare in front of the camera, I could approach the music video as a short film,” says Ullaeus. “He gave the character weight, humour, pain and humanity — without us having to explain everything.”
The stripped-down idea was central from the beginning: one man, one chair, one empty room and a camera slowly moving closer. No big effects. No over-explaining. Just a body, a face and a song about missing someone.
“Peter understands exactly how the camera reads small things,” says Ullaeus. “A look, a movement, the way he sinks into the chair or tries to stand up — that is enough for the audience to feel that there is a whole story behind the character.”
For rEvolver Film Company, the project is another international production at the intersection of music video, live film and visual storytelling. Patric Ullaeus has built a strong visual identity through his work with some of the world’s leading rock and metal artists, while increasingly moving toward a more cinematic expression where music video, drama and performance meet.
“I have always seen the music video as a cinematic format,” says Ullaeus. “It’s not just about showing a band. It’s about creating a world around the song. With Europe and Peter Stormare, we had the chance to make something raw, simple, human and cinematic, a video that feels bigger than the format.”
