Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth has created the soundtrack for the 6 part Netflix series Clark which was released in May. Having won a Swedish Grammis award in 2003 for Best Hard Rock Album for Opeth’s Damnation album, the man who was voted No. 42 in Guitar World magazines list of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All time wrote a large amount of music for this project in the Covid pandemic.
Åkerfeldt has called this project “…probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done musically. It was so fun. Challenging but fun…” so what has the frontman from the progressive metal band that he is used to providing lead vocals, guitar and songwriter manage to create?
The 33-track album is mainly comprised of instrumental offerings that range from the swinging 60s to 70s prog taking in psychedelia, funk, jazz, indie pop and Arabic sounds along the way in this combination of style and influences. The main man provides the vocals on the four tracks that are included, sealing that personal touch with a vast variety of sounds.
I must admit that I have not watched the series so in many ways I have approached this as I would an album review. Having no context as to where the songs fit may seem a little odd, but in some ways, it has the same effect as reading a book rather than watching the film. You make your own mental picture of the scene and what I can comfortably say is that the mood ad emotion is transmitted easily through the speakers. You can picture where the song is set and the feelings that go along with it in a very impressive way.
As the album progresses you get the feeling of going on a journey and in many ways it also raises intrigue in the series, seeing if those mental pictures were any close to reality.
This collection of songs is an intriguing soundscape that I advise you to turn off any distractions and just allow yourself to get carried away on the soundwaves that have been created by this master musician. Clark does exactly what a soundtrack should do, it has its own journey that supports a story and whether that story is the one that is in the series or whether it’s your own, it provides an amazing escape. Surely that’s why we listen to music.
Ed Ford
Clark soundtrack will be released by Friday 22nd July 2022 via InsideOut Musc.
Tracklist
- Libertine Theme
- Tango Bizarre
- Druglord Panic
- Rockefellers
- Vintage Modern
- Wish You Were There
- The Weak Heart
- Happiness
- Ode to Confusion in A Minor
- La Shay’ Jadid Taht Alshams
- The Real Me
- Here’s That Sunny Day
- Perfect Horizon
- Sea Slumber
- Then
- The Hunted Are in the Clear
- Northern Hemispheres
- Ordinary Folks
- Distant Spring
- Funky Chicken
- Code to the Vault
- Two Mermaids
- Rags to Riches
- Sunrise
- Red & White
- Headfirst Into The Storm
- Ballad of the Libertine in G Minor
- Lost in San Marino *
- Rhodes Rat
- Måndag i Stockholm *
- Mother of One
- Vielleicht Später *
- Battle For Love *
- Night Life
* vocals
Online
https://mikaelakerfeldt.lnk.to/Clark-SountrackFromTheNetflixSeries-Physical