The Ark

It almost seemed as if the Almighty himself, had, with a pointed finger, singled out a solemn boy named Ola Salo. He lived in a sleepy village that lay in the heart of Sweden, and it was here at the humble beginnings of 1991 in Rottne that Salo enlisted his friends Jepson (guitar) and Leari (bass) to help fulfill an epiphany. Culled from the very soil of Småland, the world finally had before it the one thing it needed most — a saviour. In a time when people were drowning in a flood of uncertainty and doubt, that saviour was a band called The Ark.
The Ark’s first order of business, though, was to quell the grunge, shoe-gazer and Brit-pop uprising that was plundering the airwaves in 1996. An already difficult crusade was complicated even further by people’s inability to pigeonhole the band into a popular, or even unpopular, genre. Because of this, it came as no surprise when the release of its debut record that year, a 4-song E.P. entitled Racing with the Rabbits, was largely ignored and left to gather dust on record shelves.
It was a tough blow to The Ark, but the band continued its crusade. In early 2000, armed with new recruits in guitarist Martin Axén and drummer Sylvester Schlegel, the band released its first single “Let Your Body Decide.” Slowly, people started to believe, succumbing to the gospel according to Ark. The song became an immediate radio hit, climbing to number nine in the Swedish Top 10. Although, it was the band’s next single, “It takes a Fool to Remain Sane,” that would change it all. Released in the summer of 2000, the song became an instant classic domestically, rocketing up the charts. This time, though, other European countries were beginning to take note. In Italy, for instance, the song and its “break down the walls of attitude” refrain grabbed number four in the charts. It remained camped out in the Italian Top 10 for a staggering four months.
And so The Ark juggernaut stormed ahead. Later that year the band won two Swedish Grammy awards (Song of the Year, Artist of the Year), as well as Most Played Song on Swedish National Radio, Group of the Year at Rockbjörnen (a reader’s choice award), and a slew of other nominations including the prestigious Nordic Artist of the Year at the MTVE Awards. When its much-anticipated debut album We are the Ark was finally released in 2001, it flew off the shelves, immediately selling a staggering 120,000 copies.
With other hit singles in “Echo Chamber” and “Joy Surrender,” The Ark was quickly proving that it didn’t just write songs, it wrote anthems. Its songs were a proverbial light for those lost souls in the world to follow. And follow they did, with the intrepid fanaticism only a fellow Angelhead could ever truly understand.
Much of 2001 was spent touring Germany, France, Italy and other parts of Europe with the band steadily adding to its loyal Angelhead army. The Ark quickly gained a reputation as being the pre-eminent live act for those who bore witness. With its penchant for donning self-styled costumes and full out, balls-to-the-wall performances, the band was an overload for the senses both visually and musically. Fans left shows teary-eyed and shaking, convinced The Ark was the second coming.
After spending nearly two years on the road, the band decided it was time to enter the studio to begin recording its sophomore album. While the band was putting the finishing touches on the album, it released a taster in the form of single “Calleth You, Cometh I,” and its entry in the charts further solidified The Ark’s position as one of Sweden’s top bands. In the fall of 2002, In Lust We Trust was unleashed. The album became a bible of sorts to fans, as The Ark’s message of love, hope and tolerance instantly struck a certain chord with listeners. The second single, “Father of a Son,” was an even bigger hit.
More assiduous touring followed. And the Ark army continued to grow.
Although showered with praise and seemingly overnight fame, The Ark didn’t sit idle. A new direction was on the horizon for the band.
After spending the autumn of 2003 writing and tracking demos, and much of 2004 recording, the band promised an album bursting with “music that would make you want to move your body. Music that didn’t just talk about lust, but was lust. … [the album was meant] to come out like a crisp futuristic production, but with all the energy and immediacy of a four-channel demo.”
The first single from this shift in musical policy was the infectious “One of Us is Gonna Die Young.” Rolling Stone called the single “Glam meets Abba on this Scandinavian band’s übermelodic breakthrough single — a theatrical, retro anthem that makes early death sound tastier than a bowl of Swedish meatballs.”
State of The Ark and its disco/rock/glam hybrid sound was released just after Christmas 2004 to a flurry of positive reviews, and, like its offspring single, shot right to number one in the Swedish charts.
Armed with a new sound and a new military-inspired look, the band decided it was time to leave the confines of mainland Europe. The band spent the better part of the next two years touring the United States and fans were frenzied with its arrival. U.S. critics, too, were raving about The Ark’s sound and its kamikaze live approach.
Time Out New York observed, “Over the past year, the exuberant Swedish quintet The Ark has turned each of several New York shows into a memorable demonstration of how genuinely electrifying a rock gig can be.”
The Village Voice built on that opinion with, “The band’s fearlessness is particularly shocking because The Ark operate not in an indie world of diminished expectations and ambitions but in the same national mainstream that produced Max Martin. Many American cities don’t even have alternative rock or even real Top 40 radio anymore. Sweden has The Ark. It’s not fair.”
In the middle of wowing U.S. audiences, the band completed a successful UK/Scandinavian tour supporting British rockers The Darkness. It seemed everyone was joining the Angelhead army, succumbing to “the word” of The Ark.
After spending nearly 10 years as a touring member of The Ark, keyboardist Jens Andersson was finally inaugurated as a full-fledged member of the band, officially ending the longest audition in rock history.
With Andersson in tow, The Ark entered Gula Studion in mid-November in Malmö to begin tracking album number four. To move forward, sometimes you must start from the beginning — and that’s just what the band did when it enlisted the help of Marco Manieri. He was the producer/engineer/mixer behind the band’s debut album, and Manieri’s return behind the dials left many wondering whether the band would revisit the sound of its 2001 counterpart.
“Not exactly,” Axén cautions. “We had quite a clear picture of how we wanted this record to sound and Marco was the perfect guy to help us nail that picture down to tape. … [the intention] was to make a mixture of all the previous albums: the playfulness and depth of We Are The Ark, the grandiose side from In Lust We Trust fused with the stripped-down minimalistic disco-riff boogie from State of The Ark.”
In January 2007, the band released “Absolutely No Decorum,” a stadium anthem saluting free speech. Like previous singles, it too shot to number one.
On March 10, the band entered Sweden’s Melodifestivalen with a song called “The Worrying Kind.” The song was a throwback to the good ol’ days of ‘70s glam rock boogie, building on the sound of State of The Ark while adding even bigger stadium riffs and chorus. It made hips sway, leaving old and young alike singing its “But baby I’m the worrying kind” refrain in the streets. With a song so catchy, so immediate and so grand, there was little surprise when The Ark rocked to victory in front of a national audience totalling 4 million. Ultimately, this Swedish victory paved the way for an appearance in the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest. The Ark’s brand of sing-along chorused glitter rock fused with intelligent and insightful lyrics was quite a departure from Eurovision acts before it, and the band entered the final as odds-on-favourites for bookies in the UK. Despite high expectations, the band placed 18th. The Ark, though, forged ahead with its head held high.
“The Worrying Kind” became yet another in a growing list of number ones, remaining in the top spot for a month. In fact, in its first week of release, “The Worrying Kind” and “Absolutely No Decorum” stood number one and number two, respectively, on the Swedish radio charts — a feat never before accomplished by another Swedish act.
With Ark mania in full effect across Scandinavia and Europe, fans new and old were frothing at the mouths to be the first to possess the new album Prayer for the Weekend. Pre-orders for the album smashed records, and when it was finally released in mid-April, the album took its rightful place atop the charts, flying off record shelves. Prayer for the Weekend quickly went platinum, and it has not left the Top 10 Swedish charts since its release, an unheard of three month period.
The band is currently putting the finishing touches on a relentless summer tour headlining festivals across Scandinavia. The clouds are lined with silver studs and the future is glittered with hope. The world is The Ark’s congregation, so be ready to pray. The Ark is coming …