The Ark
Prayer for the weekend
Roxy Recordings
The Ark are representing Sweden in the Eurovision contest (taking place in Finland in about two weeks time) and I really want them to win. Not because I'm a fan, nor due to them and me sharing the same country of birth. The truth is that I have bet £10 that they'll win and if their silly "The worrying kind" manages to fool the jury, I'm going to be £80 richer (drinks are on me if they win and you see me the next day). It can't have been easy for their management to pick a song for Eurovision, almost all songs on this album sounds like they could have been contenders (against horrible songs by sad Swiss DJs and loopy Icelandic divas). "Prayer for the weekend" went straight to the top spot on the Swedish album chart when it came out and it'll probably stay there for a little while longer. It's good music for kids, and if my 4 year old nephew likes to shake his tiny feet to these songs, that's fine, but I wouldn't recommend this unoriginal mishmash of theatrical pop with mass sing-a-long choruses to anyone older than him. Perhaps Sweden's full of very nice parents who spend their heard earned money on their children's musical preferences? Let us close our eyes and pretend that this is the case.
- Simon Tagestam