Collapsed In Sunbeams transports her introspective, occasionally dark themes on gentle and breezy melodies.
“(I) spent most of school feeling like that black kid who couldn’t dance for s t, listening to too much emo music and crushing on some girl in her Spanish class.”
Album Highlights
Why You Will “Dig” Arlo Parks’
Collapsed In Sunbeams
It’s a collection of smart, mature R&B, gently kissed with pop and jazz overtones. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, the songs on Parks’ debut album are surprisingly heartening. It’s ideal listening during the stressful, isolated times we find ourselves in.
Cola
The phrase black dog is slang for depression. It s also the name of a breakout hit from Arlo Parks, a song that feels custom-made for this moment in history. Even though it was written before the pandemic, it poked at the heart of our ongoing predicament. It s a reminder during a time of loneliness that we re not alone.
For the past few years, Parks has been writing songs that touch on tough subjects, but always with the intent of overcoming them or as she sings on Portra 400, making rainbows out of something painful. It s led to an incredible amount of buzz, even before the release of her highly anticipated (and very, very good) debut album,
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With most indie venues closed due to the pandemic and many record stores altering their business methods, it was a challenging year for music discovery.
Luckily, we live in the internet age, where a glowing album review, trending social media post or intriguing Bandcamp tag can instantly connect fans to their next favorite band. As the music world remained stuck in quarantine limbo, upcoming songwriters had more time than usual to record, hype, network and livestream and it’s safe to say we all needed the distraction.
To cap off the year’s depressing madness with a glimmer of optimism, we gathered this list of our 20 Most Interesting New Artists of 2020 from indie-pop to Afrobeat.
Arlo ParksPhotography by Alex Kurunis
20-year-old west Londoner Arlo Parks puts her heart and soul into her music. Here, she speaks to Shannon Mahanty about her creative process and her latest single, Caroline
December 17, 2020
Arlo Parks knows how to tug at your heartstrings. For the past few years, the west Londoner has been winning over fans and critics alike by pouring the rawest iteration of her heart and soul into some of the most refreshingly honest pop ballads in contemporary music. At 20, she may be free from the angst of her teen years, but her earliest music was the purest product of adolescent experiences in all their intensity, from crushes and heartbreak, to schoolyard politics – every thought and feeling was committed to song, with no stone left unturned.