(Sweden) THE ARK - The Worrying Kind
Sweden’s sextet, THE ARK, is well on its way toward making rock ‘n’ roll history. Having shattered sales and radio play records in their home country and Italy, and consistently playing to sold-out crowds on tours in Scandinavia, Europe and North America, the band is a growing force to be reckoned with.
You know these Swedes have got to have something the moment you witness their ability to explosively transform anyone-from a repressed, suited-up executive to a cynical, jaded hipster - into part of a chanting, pulsating, hungry-for-music mob. It is undeniable that whether playing in a stadium for thousands or in one of New York’s fabled rock clubs, THE ARK puts on an unforgettable show. Fans know to expect a visual, visceral event - or in the words of frontman and songwriter, Ola SALO: “Lots of spontaneity and over-the-top drama, with bone-crushing riffs and epiphanies.” Combining the raw theatrical power of legendary glam bands, and carefully crafted melodies with clever and meaningful lyrics, an evening with THE ARK approaches something akin to an other-worldly experience.
That said, everybody in THE ARK is really nice, they all like beer, a few are a vegetarians, and one of them secretly likes fermented herring (a stinky Swedish delicacy)…
Getting back to the story: the almost religious experience at an ARK show is no small coincidence as the origins of THE ARK are rooted strongly in spirituality. His father a Lutheran minister (and violin player) and his mother a church organist; Ola SALO’s early life was always surrounded by religion and music. Together with childhood friends Leari LJUNBERG (bass) and Mikael JEPSON (guitar), Salo invoked the name of Noah’s mythological ship for his budding band. Not only would THE ARK allow the trio to escape the confines of growing up in a small industrial town in Southern Sweden - where there was nothing else to do but drive around on mopeds and play football - but it would also be a symbolic vessel for the survival of mankind. Heavily influenced by the Book of Revelation, a young SALO saw signs everywhere of a coming Apocalypse, a time when old concepts of truth would be turned upside down… and only rock ‘n’ roll could save the World. But the gospel of THE ARK would be anything but a traditional Christian one; the band would gather people into a community and preach a message of liberation: ‘Life is short so dare to live it in the here and now.’
Drawing inspiration from Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, The Velvet Underground, Cream and musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, and The Rocky Horror Show - as well seventies glam rock icons such as Kiss, T-Rex, Queen and David Bowie - on 1991 the three friends embarked on their journey. The stakes were high but there was no other option: one day they would be stars.
The road wasn’t easy, especially because THE ARK braved to be un-cool and outrageous in a time dominated by grunge and shoe gazing. “In the 90’s there was this sort of ironic/cynical cultural atmosphere,” explains Ola. “Nobody really dared to have fun or even say something explicitly with their lyrics, or do something that was over-the-top… and if you did it had to be a parody.” Soon, however, the tide would turn with new reinforcements Martin AXÉN (guitar) and Sylvester SCHLEGEL (drums) joining the band.
On 2000, the band had its breakthrough with the singles Let Your Body Decide, Echo Chamber, and It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane; this last song, most importantly, encapsulated all that THE ARK stood for, calling people to “break the walls of attitude.” The release of their first album, We Are The Ark, followed, instantly selling more than 100,000 copies - something previously unheard of in Sweden for a debut album in English. Additionally, the record put the band on the road to superstar status in Italy.
The second album, In Lust We Trust, was released on 2002. It included the singles Calleth You Cometh I, Tell Me This Night Is Over, and Father Of A Son - this last one an anthem about gay adoption rights set to a chorus of “hallelujah”. Though released a few weeks after the Swedish government legalized gay adoption, the controversial song has contributed much to the social discourse of this issue in the band’s home country and abroad.
Featuring simple, yet sophisticated and catchy tunes, such as Clamour For Glamour, the band’s third album, State Of The Ark, saw its release in 2005. The lyrics found in the record lend to the quirky and slightly addictive nature of the music, hitting a stride in One Of Us Is Gonna Die Young, which became the first single abroad and the standard bearing the band’s message on its first forays into American territories; this single is classic THE ARK with its themes of carpe diem, liberation, and earnestness. State Of The Ark also included the pulsating The Others and the climactic Deliver Us From Free Will with its elegant transitions from raunchy rock rhythms to disco and back.
Starting with the induction of long-time collaborator and keyboard player Jans ANDERSSON as the sixth member of the band, 2007 is quickly becoming an exciting year for THE ARK. The single The Worrying Kind - with its bluesy shuffle or what Ola calls “a glam-boogie song about anxiety” - has been chosen as Sweden’s official entry in the Eurovision Song Contest to take place in May in Helsinki. Additionally the band’s fourth album, Prayer For The Weekend, is due out in Scandinavia on 11th of April and it is already breaking records in presales, downloads and radio-play. The aforementioned Eurovision entry and the second single, Absolutely No Decorum (a song which brings to the forefront what the sextet does best as a rock ‘n’ roll hymn about freedom of speech), have taken their place respectively as number one and number two on Swedish radio’s Tracklistan - the first time in Sweden’s radio history that anyone has landed simultaneously on the top two spots.
Prayer For The Weekend is set to satisfy fans of THE ARK, new and old, while revisiting familiar territory from the previous offerings and, more than anything, rolling in new surprises. With a good mix of up-beat, danceable tunes and more meditative ballads, the polished and mature lyrics and melodies prove that Ola SALO, is not just a flamboyant showman with a crystalline voice, but also an accomplished wordsmith and composer. The title track opens the record with a flourishing church choir that suddenly metamorphoses into a driving disco beat - or what the band calls “Charles Baudelaire goes to Studio 54.” The next outstanding track, Little Dysfunk You (scheduled to be the next single), described as THE MINISTRY meets THE BEE GEES, is an urban story that evokes a dark underground club atmosphere. The religious tone of the record is palpable up to its last moments; the final song, Uriel, was written by Ola when he was 16 and named so because he thought the name was a beautiful one for a girl - unbeknownst to him that Uriel (”the flame of God”) in Christian tradition is the angel of Arts and Poetry….
…Divine inspiration, perhaps?
Participants: THE ARK
Song: The Worrying Kind
Writer: Ola SALO
Composer: Ola SALO
Broadcaster: SVT
National selection: Melodifestivalen 2007
(919 votes, average: 3.32 out of 5)
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killer neger May 8
GO SWEDEN. SWEDEN WILL WIN
HELL ON EARTH
METAL FOREVER!!!!!!!!die die die…..
/junta taskolampi
Oskar May 8
…and now listen to “Love Grows (Where my Rosemary goes)”.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U-LdEx-eaw0
You hear it?
Smuffler May 8
Did you see where the movieclip came from? www.thevideobay.org , thepiratebay is probably planning to make a “youtube-site” =P
Treo May 8
The winner takes the all
Nick May 8
SWEDEN SUCKS…is this dude gay or what? Another bad entry from Sweden…the 12 point votes will come from Scandinavian countries as a show of pitty not more!
Rock May 9
heh, these gay pop guys are sad… so sad…
Morningguy May 9
She will not win, (im gay too) but this is clearly missrepresenting us….. Again…..
Mursu May 9
What does it matter if he’s gay or straight or whatever. And what dows it matter if he looks like anything. The Song is great! It is just esy going and makes people smile, what else do you need!
drago May 9
Wonderful ..
Terry May 9
i like it
Banangoesapple May 9
The only thing that’s sad is all the people that calls him gay, does it matter if he’s gay or not?
repeat May 9
Some random retard: “The only thing that’s sad is all the people that calls him gay, does it matter if he’s gay or not?”
Yes it does. There are allready millions of people just like him, every single one of them should be killed. dumb
Morningguy May 9
Repeat: But there are even less of your kind, and you are getting lesser every day. Go and get a education…
Well he is clearly gay, and it does matter because he is giving a false pictures of us homosexuals. And boneheads like repeat will beleive that homosexuals are that way. not that mr. boneheads opinion counts… but anyway..
Rosita May 9
The song is great and it’s gonna win!!
Who the hell cares is he’s gay or not btw? It’s just people with prejudices against guys who dress a certain way that think he MUST be gay because he wears a big shiny necklace and a feather jacket.
Sandra May 9
Ola is bisexuall, not gay. I dont know why you all care so much about it, tough…
The song is great and I really hope they WIN IT ALL!
tralala May 10
gay or not, he sucks.
lalala May 10
gay or not, they´ll win
wormhole May 10
waahahaha.. omFg! WTF WAS THAT?!
if I watch the show.. I’ll take a piss when this comes up!
Antonio May 10
Abba ABBA Boys!
Down with Abba boys!
Thomas, Sweden May 10
What the fcuk.. Sweden is going to be disqualified! This is a copy of the song “Edison Lighthouse - Love Grows”… How can we be so dumb to send this song to eurovision?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U-LdEx-eaw0
Teatime May 10
COPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr6H1a7YUac
SHAME ON YOU SWEDEN!!!!
Deepkick May 10
“COPY”
Thats so stupid.
Onlu aboout 2 sec sounds alike.
I can promise you i can find more simialr song with ALL the rest songs
I May 10
THIS WON´T NEVER WIN!! IT SUCKS!!
qwerty May 10
That’s GAY! I hate it.
Dorine May 10
Sweden rocks, and that’s it!
skoobeedoo May 10
another bad attempt of an 80’s revival.
Quite pathetic actually.
Ari May 10
Does it matter if he is gay or not.
I don’t think that affect his chances to win or lose.
LinoDino May 10
“Morningguy May 9
Repeat: But there are even less of your kind, and you are getting lesser every day. Go and get a education…”
When NORMAL people are extinct try to continue humainty by fucking your same sex partner… ur mindless… (not for gays, for the stupid ones)
btw i don’t think this one have potentials to win.
Alvaro May 10
OOOHHHH MAN HE’s HOT !!!! NICE SONG (BEST SONG) FROM THE SONG I’VE HEARD. GO GO SWEDEN!!!
Marek May 10
Definitely one of the best song here!
Swidish Power!!! May 10
IT’s STUPPID!!!! TO be GaY!!! Ure idiots!! It’s FEMALE!!! + MALE!!! … this song wont win but will go high in úp in the rank! Man måste ha nått fel i hjärnan om man är bög?? eller bara korkade??!
Haikkari May 10
Oh god, this song is f*cking horrible! *1*
hip69, Bulgaria May 11
circus…. God, please, help them to find the right way
Bill May 11
This song rocks!! its gonna win the ESC easy!!
Johndoe May 11
These pop gay idiots will never win nothing else, than “miss scandinavia” competition!
Maffro May 11
They will win i hope i love it
maccoy May 12
…and now listen to “Love Grows (Where my Rosemary goes)”.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U-LdEx-eaw0
You hear it?
hahaha i can hear it
setä May 12
sweden didn’t get into icehockey finals but hopefully tey will win this crappy contest….eurovision….
Jenn May 13
This was very upbeat, not a winner sadly but upbeat and kinda cute. As for all the “gay” comments, people really should learn to grow up. Music doesn’t see gender, sexuality, race, or which ever, music is based upon the “ability” to sing. Between all of us, we have different interpritations when it comes to music, what someone may like, someone else may not. This determains in OUR OWN minds weather or not they ahve the “ability” to sing, for some people they may not have liked this, but for others they may have. Becasuse we are all different and ourt tastes varies. The fact that he’s gay isn’t a factor, why?
Last i checked the ability to sing wasn’t limited to straights or gays. Sure he may not be THAT great of a singer, but he sure can sing better than I can, or even most of the people here! The fact that he GOT into eurovision is a feat all on it’s own. If someone didn’t think he could sing, he WOULDN’T have been in the contest obviously. No one saw that he was gay, they only saw his ability, and that’s the very way it SHOULD be. Sadly it’s NOT and it will ocntinue to be that way, and gays will continue to be gay, so…in conclusions…
GET OVER IT!!!
Lia May 13
The song is …but the ark are not good,i very very not like it,i dont wanna be so…ya….I dont wanna be stuped,but i wrealy not like the song …and everything…:|
QnRA May 13
blah that song sux…sounds like a song that children sing at kintergarten :/ (no offence, just that i dont like it X|)