Arlo Parks - My Soft Machine
by Zena Grieg
published: 3 / 7 / 2023

Label:
Transgressive Records
Format: CD
intro
Dreamy and evocative latest album form 2021 Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks
British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has released the follow-up to her celebrated debut album ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’, which won the 2021 Mercury Prize and a Brit Award. ‘My Soft Machine’ is a pop-soul mix of dreamy ballads interspersed with addictive beats underpinned by thoughtful, confessional lyrics around a central theme of love. Highlights of this twelve-track collection include: the opener, the affecting spoken word ‘Bruiseless’ with its nostalgic, uncompromising lines: “Almost everyone that I love has been abused…/I just wish that my eyes were still wide”; the single, inspired by Parks’ visit to the Far East, the cleansing, healing ‘Impurities’ with its Japanese keyboard chimes and startling words: “…my chest is buzzing like a bluebird caged/… I radiate like a star, like a star, star, star/When you embrace all my impurities”; the grunge track ‘Devotion’ with its fiery guitar riff; ‘Blades’, a melodic yearning for a classroom crush; the cinematic, powerful ‘Purple Phase’ about a friend who is struggling; ‘Weightless’ with its hopeless refrain of being trapped: “I don’t wanna wait for you/But I need you, so I won’t go”; the laid-back ‘Pegasus’, a dream-like duet with Californian singer Phoebe Bridgers (Boygenius); and the intimate ‘Room (red wings)’ with its laconic refrain: “Without you, I am devastated/Now I just wanna eat cake in a room with a view”. Evocative, subtly impactful, Arlo Parks's new album ‘My Soft Machine’ is an engrossing ride through a colourful, sonic personal landscape that resonates.
Track Listing:-
1 Bruiseless2 Impurities
3 Devotion
4 Blades
5 Purple Phase
6 Weightless
7 Pegasus Ft. Phoebe Bridgers
8 Dog Rose
9 Puppy
10 I'm Sorry
11 Room (red wings)
12 Ghost
Band Links:-
https://www.arloparksofficial.com/https://www.facebook.com/arloparks/
https://twitter.com/arloparks
Label Links:-
https://twitter.com/transgressiveHQhttps://www.facebook.com/transgressiverecords
http://www.transgressiverecords.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Transgressiveofficia
https://instagram.com/transgressivehq/
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
bandcamp
soundcloud
reviews |
Collapsed in Sunbeams (2021) |
![]() |
Inspirational debut album whose influences include Sylvia Plath from London musician and poet, Arlo Parks |
most viewed articles
current edition
Pennyblackmusic - Writers and Photographers' Albums of the Year 2024Man From Delmonte - Interview
Peter Perrett - In Dreams Begin Responsibilities Interview Part One
Clive Langer - Interview
Pennyblackmusic - Book of the Year Award 2024
Johnnie Johnstone - Interview
Marianne Faithfull - Reflections
Laura Nyro - Profile
Johny Brown - Corpse Flower
Vinyl Stories - Vinyl 2024
most viewed reviews
current edition
Ringo Starr - Look UpDorie Jackson - Stupid Says Run
Pixie Lott - Encino
Dusty Springfield - The BBC Sessions
Beabadoobee - This is How The World Moves
Joan Armatrading - How Did This Happen and What Does It Mean?
Unthanks - In Winter
Oïmiakon - Comptoir Des Vanites
Rosie Lowe - Lover, Other
Emily Burns - Die Happy
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart