HNAF (Hot New Album Fridays): Soulful Pop | Arlo Parks – ‘My Soft Machine’
My Soft Machine is a brilliant soulful, pop, psych, tour de force. It’s easy to get lost in this melodic and beautifully produced album by Arlo Parks. A cohesive blend of psychedelia, soul, pop and stimulating synths. This is one of the few albums that has come out in the past 2 years where we can say every track is our favorite track. Parks has delivered a captivating album and we rate this a 10/10!
READ More:
Arlo Parks celebrates the release of her highly anticipated album, My Soft Machine, out today via Transgressive Records. This deeply personal body of work takes listeners on a captivating journey through Parks’ experiences in her early 20s. The album features previously released singles “Blades,” “Weightless,” “Impurities,” “Devotion,” and “Pegasus,” a delicate and beautiful ballad created in collaboration with her close friend and acclaimed musician Phoebe Bridgers.
My Soft Machine marks a significant milestone in the twice Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize, and BRIT Award-winning artists already illustrious career. The album is a testament to her growth as an artist, showcasing her unique storytelling ability and introspective lyricism. Recorded between London and Los Angeles, the album features an impressive roster of producers including Paul Epworth, Ariel Rechtshaid, Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton), Buddy Ross (known for collaborations with Frank Ocean), Carter Lang (known for working with SZA), and self-production from Arlo herself. Leading into the release Arlo has graced the covers of Paste Magazine, GQ Hype, The Guardian Film & Music, DORK, MusicWeek, DIY and Gay Times.
Parks shares about how the new album and album title came to fruition in this beautiful performance video noting: “The world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience – our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. 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. There is a quote from a Joanna Hogg film called The Souvenir, it’s an A24 semi-autobiographical film with Tilda Swinton – it recounts a young film student falling in love with an older, charismatic man then being drawn into his addiction – in an early scene he’s explaining why people watch films – ‘we don’t want to see life as it is played out we want to see life as it is experienced in this soft machine.’ So there we have it… My Soft Machine.”
My Soft Machine follows her highly-praised debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams, which received two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album, won the BRIT Award for Best New Artist, received the Honda Mercury Prize, and won the BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year Award. Her debut album also reached the top 3 on the UK Album Charts and won the AIM Awards for Best Independent Album and UK Independent Breakthrough. On top of all this, Arlo was also nominated for Breakthrough International Act at the BET Awards. Arlo was named as the youngest ever high-profile supporter of UNICEF and an ambassador for UK mental health charity CALM. She has plans to continue her extensive work with both charities.
Listen to My Soft Machine above and check out Arlo’s upcoming live dates below.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
* = SOLD OUT
5/24 – Kingston, UK @ Pryzm w/ Banquet Records (intimate outstore performance, early show – 5pm)
5/24 – Kingston, UK @ Pryzm w/ Banquet Records (intimate outstore performance)*
5/29 – London, UK – Rough Trade East, Early Show (in-store performance + signing)*
5/29 – London, UK – Rough Trade East, Late Show (in-store performance + signing)*
6/14 – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe w/ Crash Records (intimate outstore performance)*
6/14 – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe w/ Crash Records (intimate outstore performance, late show – 9pm)*
7/5 – Tokyo, Japan @ Ebisu Garden Hall*
7/6 – Osaka, Japan @ Umeda Club Quattro
7/8 – Seoul, South Korea @ Musinsa Garage
7/14 – New Plymouth, New Zealand @ Night Light Festival
7/17 – Melbourne, Australia @ Forum
7/20 – Sydney, Australia @ Sydney Opera House
7/22 – Byron Bay, Australia @ Splendour In The Grass
7/23 – Adelaide, Australia @ The Gov
7/25 – Perth, Australia @ Astor Theatre
8/5 – Oxfordshire, UK @ Wilderness Festival
8/26 – Reading, UK @ Reading Festival
8/27 – Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
9/5 – Dublin, Ireland @ 3Olympia Theatre
9/13 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso
9/14 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso*
9/15 – Brussels, Belgium @ Ancienne Belgique
9/17 – Berlin, Germany @ Huxleys Neue Welt*
9/19 – Milan, Italy @ Alcatraz
9/21 – Paris, France @ L’Olympia
9/28 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
10/1 – Washington, DC @ All Things Go Festival
