On July 24th, 2021, Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth participated in a Patreon Live Chat hosted by Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess. During their conversation, Åkerfeldt discussed composing music for the upcoming Netflix series, Clark. The show is co-written and directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who also took Opeth's recent promo photos for In Cauda Venenum. An excerpt has been transcribed as follows:
Åkerfeldt: "I don't wanna come across as insensitive, but the pandemic hit at a good time for me, work-wise, because I've been offered to do a film score, basically, or for a series. The director is Jonas Åkerlund, who's mostly known for making music videos for Madonna and Lady Gaga. He has a past in heavy metal. He was in a band called Bathory years ago. And he's a friend of mine. And he asked if I would be interested in scoring music for a TV series that's coming out on Netflix about a guy called Clark Olofsson, who was a famous, infamous robber, basically. So it's almost like a biopic. So I'm writing music that's supposed to fit in from the '40s and onwards. So that's been fun.
In the beginning, I didn't wanna do much vocals, but I've done some vocals. He sent me the script, and I read through [it]. But he basically told me, 'Just write music like you normally do.' And that's what I did, only shorter pieces — like three-minute pieces. You don't wanna spend time working on a 20-minute piece and then he goes, 'That sucks.' So I'm just doing shorter things. But it's been really fun. And I think I've learned a lot. I had to kind of school myself in music, how it sounded in different decades and so forth… Some stuff is kind of Opeth-y sounding, I guess, and some stuff is definitely not Opeth-y sounding. But it's been really fun. And some what I think are really nice things I'm almost hoping it's not gonna be used, so I could take it for Opeth."
Now, Milan Records has announced the release of the soundtrack for Clark. The album will be available in both CD and vinyl formats via InsideOut Music. They will include liner notes from Åkerfeldt and Åkerlund. Release is set for July 22nd.
Åkerfeldt's atmospheric soundscape deftly 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. All of these vibrant layers and textures are skillfully combined to effortlessly underpin the high-octane dramatic content of the series and also to place it perfectly within the context of the times in which the drama plays out. Clearly, in his element here, of the 34 tracks presented, four have a distinctive key vocal component provided by Åkerfeldt himself.
On writing the soundtrack to Clark, Åkerfeldt notes: "Writing the music for Clark is probably one of the most rewarding things I've done musically. 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.
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.' 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.
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…"
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"
"Veilleicht Später" *
"Battle For Love" *
"Night Life"
