Collapsed In Sunbeams Arlo Parks

• 1 Collapsed In Sunbeams 00:55
• 2 Hurt 03:36
• 3 Too Good 03:41
• 4 Hope 04:30
• 5 Caroline 03:37
• 6 Black Dog 03:49
• 7 Green Eyes 03:18
• 8 Just Go 03:06
• 9 For Violet 03:33
• 10 Eugene 03:43
• 11 Bluish 03:14
• 12 Portra 400 02:56
• Total Runtime 39:58

Info for Collapsed In Sunbeams

Neo-R'n'B shooting star Arlo Parks, who first caused a sensation in 2018 with her song "Cola", currently combines modern indie pop melodies with authentic, emotional and profound lyrics, performed by a soft soprano voice, like no other. The British artist addresses mental health issues as well as queer sexuality. From specific moments and experiences, she creates universal songs in a unique way that people of all ages can identify with. Michelle Obama, Phoebe Bridgers, Florence Welch and Billie Eilish are already fans of the 20-year-old Londoner. The latter two, together with Arlo Parks, are part of the current Gucci campaign. The British songwriter has also collaborated with Dior and Vogue, and potential musical partners are also queuing up at the door of this fascinatingly empathetic young musician. Although Arlo Parks can already boast a considerable number of successes with the songs she has released to date, she meticulously pursued the goal of writing an album that will be remembered. She has undoubtedly achieved this goal with "Collapsed In Sunbeams".

"Every song is filled to bursting with emotion. (...) They are sung by a woman who has a voice like an angel. That's not the only reason to be very excited about what's to come in the future ..." (Stereo)

Arlo Parks

Arlo Parks
On a personal level, Parks struggled with her identity growing up; a self-confessed tom boy who was super sensitive and "uncool", she says it was like "I'm a black kid who can't dance for shit, listens to emo music and currently has a crush on some girl in my Spanish class." By the time she reached 17, she shaved her head, figured out she was bisexual and produced/wrote an album's worth of material.

Growing up in South West London, half Nigerian, a quarter Chadian and a quarter French, Arlo Parks learned to speak French before English. A quiet child, she'd write short stories and create fantasy worlds, later journalling and then obsessing over spoken word poetry, reading American poets such as Ginsberg and Jim Morrison and watching old Chet Baker performances on YouTube. These days she references Nayyirah Waheed, Hanif Abdurraqib and Iain S. Thomas as her favourite modern poets, and it is clear that their works are as influential on her songwriting as any musician. Books too, such as The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Parks says, "the way Murakami writes in that book is how I aspire to write my songs; gritty and sensitive and human."

Fela Kuti's 'Water' and Otis Redding's 'Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay' soundtracked Arlo Parks' childhood, but it was aged around 13 that she discovered King Krule; an artist who would heavily influence the music she writes today. Later listening to more hip-hop (from Kendrick Lamar and Earl Sweatshirt to the more confessional sounds of Loyle Carner) and rock (Jimi Hendrix, Shilpa Ray and David Bowie), as well as the subdued, pained sounds of Keaton Henson, Sufjan Stevens and Julien Baker, Parks explains, "I would write stories so detailed you could taste them, while maintaining the energy and life of the hip-hop I loved." There's a visual, almost cinematic quality to her writing too, which is born from her love of horror films, streetwear and abstract art.

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