The tenderness and candour of Parks’ melancholy bedroom pop gives it a quiet power, a quality that has propelled her steady ascent. LA is a long way from Hammersmith, London, where the 22-year-old performer born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho grew up and wrote her first EP, 2019’s Super Sad Generation. The couple turned off and parked the car, music still playing as they looked out over the city of Los Angeles, the singer-songwriter’s new home. A sunny, spacious record fizzing with the promise of new love, she wanted it “to throw people off balance a little”. This record is life through my lens, through my body-the mid-20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity-what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body.D riving along the mountain-flanked Angeles Crest Highway in southern California, Arlo Parks played her new album for her girlfriend for the first time.
In a statement by Parks, she notes: “The world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience-our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. My Soft Machine speaks on the vulnerabilities that twenty-somethings must face when navigating a world that requires one to stumble while always trying to get back up. The hook is extremely catchy, and keeps circling in your head throughout the chorus that repeats the lyrics, “Don’t wanna wait for you.” The repetition highlights the reluctant nature of leaving, but knowing what needs to be done in order to escape the weight of unrequited love. Arlo’s light and heady tone pierce through the driving beat and rumbling bass that kicks off the song. Parks’ newest single “Weightless” tackles themes of unrequited love, self-worth, and the importance of taking care of yourself. Parks takes inspiration from her love of Radiohead and R&B to create indie-rock chord progressions, lo-fi beats, and layered vocals to support the singer’s light-angelic voice. The 22-year-old received two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album in 2022 and won the BRIT Award for Best New Artist.
The new record follows her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, which gained critical acclaim after reaching the top three on the UK Album Charts and won the AIM Awards for Best Independent Album and UK Independent Breakthrough. British singer/songwriter Arlo Parks just announced her sophomore album My Soft Machine, set to release on May 26 on Transgressive Records and dropped its first single, “Weightless.”
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