Armed with ethereal vocals and heartfelt lyrics, ARK is a captivating new artist who you most definitely should be listening to right now.
The singer-songwriter released her debut EP The Shadow In My Company on Friday, and it has already received incredible support including from Apple Music who added it to their ‘Best Of The Week’ playlist in numerous countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Japan and the Philippines.
ARK has been busy performing her new material at various gigs, including at BST Hyde Park on Saturday. We caught some of her set and were blown away by her mesmerising tone and heart-on-her-sleeve attitude.
Prior to her fantastic set, we sat down with ARK backstage for a quick chat about her new EP, being inspired by Joni Mitchell, and more.
You’re opening the Summer Stage today, how are you feeling ahead of your performance?
I’m really excited, I can’t wait! It hasn’t hit me yet. It’s a massive honour to do it.
After your performance, are you looking forward to catching anyone particular on stage?
I’m looking forward to seeing Liv Dawson, I’ve seen a lot of her stuff around so that should be good. And Bruno Mars obviously, I can’t wait!
You just released your debut EP The Shadow In My Company, what’s the response to it been like so far?
It’s been so lovely. I didn’t really expect any response, I don’t know if artists really do as you can’t expect too much, but people have been so positive about it. It’s just great, everything’s going really well.
Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind the EP and how you chose those particular songs to feature on it?
So that was my first project, well body of work, released as ARK and they’re all just very personal and written around this certain time in my life. I just thought they fitted together well contextually as they’re all about similar things.
Why have you chosen to release music under the name ARK rather than using your birth name?
I didn’t want to put it under my own name. I quite like to detach myself from it a bit as actually I’m someone who sits at home and watches Netflix all day haha. Ark is in my surname, which is Clark, and also an ark is a box of secrets apparently!
We love that, that’s so clever! It gives your project a little bit of mystery and intrigue.
Yes! It can just be whatever I want it to be.
We heard that you were inspired to write your own music because of Joni Mitchell’s Blue. What is it about the album that impacted on you so much?
The first time that I listened to it, I just heard someone who was being completely themselves and there were no boundaries in terms of genre. Technically, she’s an amazing singer and musician. Nothing was compromised, it was just very honest and has gained so much credibility. I have massive respect for her.
What would you say has been the highlight of your year so far?
I supported Paloma Faith last weekend which was very surreal, and actually the release of my EP. It’s just a massive achievement for me.
As we’ve mentioned, you’ve just released your EP, but is there anything else that you can tell us about in terms of what’s coming this year?
I’ve just been to Norway to do some recording with a guy called O. Martin, he’s a Norwegian guy who’s produced and written lots of stuff for Sigrid and Aurora. We’ve been recording a few new songs and they’re on the way!
Thank you so much to ARK for her time! Keep up to date with her via Twitter and Facebook.
The Shadow In My Company is available now.
Check out our BST Hyde Park review here and keep your eyes peeled for more exclusive chats from the festival.
Fan of ARK? Let us know on Twitter @CelebMix