Opeth frotnman Mikael Akerfeldt releases his soundtrack to the new Netflix Swedish-language series Clark on digital today through Milan Records. The soundtrack will be released on CD and double heavyweight vinyl through InsideOut Music on July 22. You can listen to Battle For Love below.
The six-part drama, starring actor Bill Skarsgard, has been co-written and directed by Jonas Akerlund, who was behind the lens for the promotional shots of Opeth for their most recent album In Cauda Venenum.
Clark will explore the true story behind notorious Swedish gangster Clark Olofsson, whose crimes gave rise to the term Stockholm Syndrome – used to describe the psychological response when some captives begin to feel a closeness to their captor.
“Writing the music for Clark is probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done musically,:" says Akerfeldt. "It was so fun. Challenging, but fun. I wanted to do a good job of course, and provide music that would fit with the rather bizarre tale of Clark Olofsson. I had to conjure up a sound for him. His sound. It’s all in my head I guess, but it felt like I was on to something after having finished the first track. The immediate feedback from Jonas Åkerlund was almost overly positive. So I just took it from there."
The atmospheric soundscape captures the sound and feel of the times in music, ranging freely from swinging 60s style sounds to 1970s progressive rock and psychedelia via heavy metal, tango, funk, jazz, Arabic melodies and indie pop and chill.
"During the pandemic I wrote so much music for this project, but I like to think I didn’t stray too much from the "original sound of Clark"," he adds. "The finished soundtrack record is a downright mish-mash of musical styles. Some sounds I’m familiar with. Other sounds were brand new to me. Or old, depending on how you see it. Brand ”old”? The album doesn’t really make musical sense at all, and that’s pretty much the purpose. Writing music to portray the multi-faceted story of a man like Clark Olofsson was bound to generate some type of musical insanity. It (the music) is just all over the place. Oddly enough, so is my own personal taste in music. Even if many would deem Clark 'a man insane', it really helped me in my work. No boundaries (let’s cross them). No rules (let’s break them). Anything goes.”
Clark the series is available to watch on Netflix now. You can also watch a trailer below.
