Is there a singer you listen to that seems to make everything in the world stop? That when their voice achieves such ascension in your soul, you can do nothing but listen in awe?
That’s Arlo Parks for me.
From the release of her breakthrough debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams nearly 5 years ago, Parks was known for music that would have you deep in your feelings. From a heartbreaking ode to former lovers (“Eugene”) to an anthem for people struggling with isolation and depression (“Black Dog”), she’s had a way of tugging at your heart.
For her latest single, “Heaven,” it appears things have changed.
The downtempo ballads have been replaced by a faster, more danceable rhythm.”Heaven” is driven by a really cool drum sound that never seems to let up, and an incredible bassline that’s always contrasting what’s being sung. The bass was inspired by an early morning set from DJ Kelly Lee Owens at an LA rave under a bridge.
“I danced more than ever as I made this record, I made more friends than ever too, found myself in the weird underbelly of New York juke nights, unleashed, laughed and laughed and laughed,” Parks says, reflecting on her upcoming album Ambiguous Desire. “This record has desire at its center. Desire is a life force; it’s a wanting, a yearning, a momentum - we are all alive because there is something or someone we want - desire is an engine. But it is also mysterious, tangled, random, enlightening, and HUMAN.”
Parks’ vocal performances are always the highlight of the discography, and this song is no different, while the lyrics reflect these dancefloor epiphanies It is excitement about the thrilling moment they’re in, or as Parks puts it, “being in a room full of strangers sweating, connecting, losing and finding themselves is a kind of magic that’s beyond language. This song was my attempt at capturing that feeling.”
Mission accomplished, Arlo.
For her third album, the Mercury Prize-winning artist took inspiration from NYC’s Paradise Garage, LCD Soundsystem, The Streets and Burial. It’s wild to think that this is the same artist that created 2021’s Collapsed in Sunbeams, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her genre-shifting ability. Remember, this is the same Parks that was featured on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and opened for Billie Eilish and Harry Styles respectively. The question isn’t if Arlo Parks sounds good playing techno music. The real question is has Arlo Parks ever sounded better?
Ambiguous Desire is due April 3rd via Transgressive Records.
