Arlo Parks: ‘I got out of my head and into my body’

A Nightclub Revelation

Arlo Parks once found herself in a nightclub, offering comfort to an unfamiliar face. “It was the summer in New York and everyone in the club was super-friendly,” she recalls. “But there was a group of girls surrounding their friend, and she seemed really upset.” Parks, who was standing nearby, initiated a conversation that unraveled into a tale of romantic entanglements and emotional drama. “We were sort of figuring it out together and, by the end, everyone was like, ‘Yeah, you’re better off without him’.” The group then transitioned to the dance floor, celebrating the decision as if it were their own.

“Everyone’s guard is down, and everyone’s equally vulnerable. There’s all these little snippets of conversation and fleeting, really intense, connections.”

A New Perspective on Life

The album Ambiguous Desire captures that moment of collective catharsis, blending the energy of party culture with introspective lyricism. It marks a departure from the gentle, reflective ballads of her Mercury Prize-winning debut, Collapsed In Sunbeams, and its 2023 follow-up, My Soft Machine. Parks explores themes of yearning and uncertainty, but with a newfound liberation found through movement and music.

Until recently, Parks had never even been to a nightclub. That changed after she signed a record deal while still in school and released her first album just months after turning 20. The next four years were spent touring, including opening for Harry Styles and Billie Eilish. After wrapping her 2023 Soft Machine tour, she decided to reclaim lost moments of everyday life. “I knew that I wanted to take time to pause and live my life,” she says. “I ended up spending a lot more time dancing and getting out of my head and more into my body.”

Musical Evolution and Authenticity

As a poet before becoming a songwriter, Parks has always excelled at weaving relatable narratives. On the track Heaven, she transports listeners to a Kelly Lee Owens concert beneath the 6th Street Viaduct bridge in Los Angeles, where “bodies in the summer breeze” are entwined with concrete and the scent of gasoline. “And she was like, ‘Look down. I’m wearing the pink Adidas’,” Parks remembers. That small detail becomes a vivid thread in the song’s story.

Her new album, Ambiguous Desire, features glitchy breakbeats and deep basslines, a sonic shift from her earlier work. Yet, the authenticity remains. A meticulous thinker, Parks immersed herself in research, studying club culture, architectural spaces, and DJ sets from New York’s Paradise Garage. She draws from artists like LCD Soundsystem and Burial, but the essence of her artistry still resonates in the music.

Reclaiming Normalcy

Parks’ decision to take a break also included a focus on cooking, a second thread in her quest for balance. “I was like, ‘I want to get good at this’, because when you’re coming down, you need to eat,” she laughs. Her culinary creations range from roast chicken to tacos and salads, though she admits the best hangover cure is a traditional English breakfast. These everyday moments, she explains, became the foundation for her latest work, reflecting a personal transformation as much as a musical one.

Through dance and cooking, Parks found a way to step out of her head and into the rhythm of the present. The album’s vibrant energy mirrors that shift, capturing the raw, shared experiences of a night out where joy and vulnerability intertwine.