The Ark Net

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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 Song - 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?