Arlo Parks Makes Songs Feel Like Films On ‘My Soft Machine’
"The films I love are usually very emotional, stylised interpretations of reality and I think I want my songs to be like that too. You can understand so much about the director’s sense of love, personality, heritage, beauty, colour, humanity through their films -- I wanted to mirror that with my music, to have the songs show who I was in that moment."
Arlo Parks’ eclectic discography feels like a sun-filled Sunday afternoon spent alone without loneliness.
At just 22, the two-time Grammy nominated artist’s sophomore album, My Soft Machine is no exception, and she’s about to bring it to the Sydney Opera House.
In 2018, Arlo’s debut single ‘Cola’ introduced her to the music scene as a poet re-arranging her melancholic observations into tender, neo-soul ballads. The British musician draws inspiration from everywhere: soul, jazz, electronica, movies, and notes scrawled on the backs of receipts. With such a gentle yet uniquely viscerous sound, it’s no wonder Arlo’s debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams earned her the UK Independent Breakthrough and Best Independent Album at the AIM Independent Music Awards in 2021.
Not even the pandemic, which cut her European headline tour short, could stunt Arlo’s quiet inexorable bloom. But such is the strength of an artist whose body of work is bolstered by an unflinching truthfulness to her growing sense of self. Her hyper-natural, confessional, queer lyricism evokes imagery that transports the listener to intimate moments — eating grapes at the back of the party in ‘Cola’ or watching one’s lover do the dishes in ‘Dog Rose’.
Her second album, My Soft Machine is a testimony to the universality of specificity. Despite being heralded as the voice of her generation, even in a tongue-in-cheek way by herself, Arlo’s new record is her speaking only for herself in lo-fi lilts about dancing to Enya with her lovers’ cat, awkward sex to Wim Wenders’ films, and lying to her therapist.
Now, Arlo is bringing My Soft Machine to Australia with her first ever gig at the Sydney Opera House this Thursday. We were lucky enough to catch up with her ahead of the show.
Merryana Salem: Congratulations on My Soft Machine and the upcoming Sydney Opera House show, Arlo. You’ve been to Australia before. Welcome back! What do you look forward to when you visit Australia? What’s something about Australia that surprises you?
I love deepening my understanding of the country by talking to people working at record shops and learning about all the murky subcultures and oddities. I love getting funky pour-overs in Melbourne and, if I’m somewhere coastal, going for beach walks and listening to the On Being podcast. I think I’m always surprised by the vastness of Australia and how tangled and wild the nature is — the mysterious expanse of the outback has always really intrigued me.
My Soft Machine feels like a very cinematic album, not just because every song feels like a set scene, or because it gets its title from The Souvenir. You also have references in your lyrics to have a love like Juliette Binoche, watching like Claire Danes through the water in Romeo and Juliet, and watching Wim Wenders films. How did film come to influence this album?
The films I love are usually very emotional, stylised interpretations of reality and I think I want my songs to be like that too. You can understand so much about the director’s sense of love, personality, heritage, beauty, colour, humanity through their films — I wanted to mirror that with my music, to have the songs show who I was in that moment, in every way. I also love the screenwriter’s approach of “show don’t tell” — I apply that philosophy to my storytelling.
In an interview with Jeremy O. Harris, you talked about how so much of the specificity in your lyrics and poetry comes from your journalling. When you go to make an album, do you go back through your journals for inspiration? How does your everyday journalling and writing shape the lyrics we hear?
I go back through everything I’ve written when I’m making an album — notes on the backs of receipts, paragraph texts, journal entries, lyrics from old songs that are just sat on my computer — I like to comb through everything. My everyday writing immortalises how I was feeling in the thick of a moment in a way that you just can’t access retrospectively… I guess that provides the core sense of urgency and emotion when it comes to my lyrics.
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album, and if so, why is it your favourite?
“Tell me you love me let me have it”. There’s something innocent about the demand for love, silently hoping for someone to say they love you for the first time, my favourite lyrics are probably the most simply romantic ones.
Your sound is so sweet and mellifluous to me, drawing on eclectic elements of soul and electronica. But ‘Devotion’ has this incredible punk-like edge. What made you experiment with that on that track?
It happened so naturally. We were listening to 17 days by Prince in Baird’s car and thinking about the drama of that song. Baird is from Baltimore and I think we then got talking about the underground hardcore punk scene there, teenagers just thrashing around in basements — this song came out of a drama and a desire for sweaty angst.
You’ve been out as bisexual since you entered the music scene, and your music really resonates with me as someone who is also bi and not white. You seem so at ease with who you are, which is not always easy for people with complicated backgrounds. What advice do you have for people who want to be more comfortable with who they are?
Know that even if you feel completely alone and trapped in your circumstances you are not alone. Joyful queer people exist. Joyful queer spaces exist. Joyful queer parents exist. Something that really helped me with achieving a sense of inner comfort was creating, having a private little pursuit that allows you to put heavy stuff down and maybe meet like-minded people also. Know that there is love and community in your future.
How do you think you have grown in your craft between Collapsed In Sunbeams and My Soft Machine? What are you most proud of about this album?
I think I’ve become more comfortable with just trying things and with failing, almost like a skateboarder who overcomes the fear of falling and is able to be so much more free and expressive. I think I’m most proud of trusting my instincts.
Finally, what’s something you hope people leave with after they listen to your music or go to one of your shows?
A sense of relief and release.
Get tickets to Arlo Parks’ Sydney Opera House show here.