Arlo Parks
My Soft Machine
Transgressive
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Arlo Parks’ debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams (2021) carried pretty much everything before it. With numerous awards adorning her home, most notably the 2021 Mercury Prize, expectations couldn’t be higher for her follow-up My Soft Machine. Those expectations can become an albatross around some, weighing them down and stifling them, resulting in that most tired Americanism, the sophomore slump, rearing its head in coverage of it.
This is hardly the case here, as My Soft Machine illustrates adroitly her unique and winning lyrical approach. The music on Collapsed In Sunbeams was hardly revolutionary or groundbreaking, but it lingered enough to let her poetic lyrics and willingness to voice her deepest thoughts shine.
That combination was what reached people’s hearts and minds in such abundance. If her lyrics were not enough to tell us, the fact she took a break from touring in 2022 to rebalance her energies and prioritize her mental health lets us know that she values the chance to live life on her own terms, and in doing so, secure the skills she exhibited so thrillingly on her debut.
This album falls crudely into two camps. There are those songs written alongside seasoned hitmaker Paul Epworth and those written either by Parks alone or with other, newer collaborators. The most successful ones are those penned alongside Epworth as her lyrics sit alongside catchy melodies and big choruses that stay long in the memory—“Devotion” and “Weightless” are prime examples of those. Other songs, like “Dog Rose” and “Puppy,” have interesting lyrics but the music does not keep its end of the bargain up, meaning that the songs fail to reach heights the lyrics and subject matter deserve.
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The subject matter varies throughout. On opener “Bruiseless,” melancholy drips at the widespread abuse seemingly endemic in society. With “Purple Phase,” the black dog of depression rears its ugly head and the regret of lost friendships occupies “Blades.”
There is counterbalance though, lest things get overwhelmingly bleak. The guitar thrill of the aforementioned “Devotion” bristles with love and “Impurities” preaches the cleansing power of unconditional love.
The songs that linger longer appear at the beginning of the album, while those that pass by less memorably take up the second half. This results in a feeling that the album rather drifts away after a thrilling start. Her lyrics are as strong and as full of delicious imagery as usual (“Tethered to the person you could be / re-reading our texts from the strawberry days” on “Weightless”), but they deserve better accompaniment in some cases. One of those that doesn’t fall flat is the album standout “Pegasus” featuring her friend Phoebe Bridgers. The delicate melody and delightful backing vocals are a dream and worth anybody’s time.
There is no doubting Parks’ artistry and her lyrics remain vital and impressive. But the music, at times, ventures towards the less memorable end of the scale and that is something of a shame.
Notable Tracks: “Devotion” | “Pegasus” | “Weightless”
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