Arlo Parks “Ambiguous Desire”
Arlo Parks
“Ambiguous Desire”
(Transgressive Records / Pias)
‘We’ re doing dishes.’ That’ s the first line Arlo Parks sings on her new album. The 25-year-old singer from London is busy washing up with friends. A mundane scene. But suddenly it’ s about love, night-time thirst and great desire. This is often the case in songs by the BRIT Award-winning artist: they start innocently enough, but suddenly deal with existential themes.
While the previous album revolved around self-destruction and consciousness, ‘Ambiguous Desire’ focuses on longing. It’ s about the hope that your new lover feels as intensely as you do. In ‘Heaven’, Arlo Parks sings very sensually about bodies in the summer breeze, designer clothes and diet cola. Rarely has a song with product placement sounded more romantic: ‘You’ re embedded in me like the scar on my arm’, she sings.
Was she thinking of the hot season in New York City, where she has recently spent a lot of time again? The city is mentioned explicitly once. The metropolis left its mark on Arlo Parks, as can be seen in her book ‘The Magic Border’, published in 2023, which contains poems and fragments. There we learn that she is a fan of the US composer Arthur Russell, but also admires Missy Elliott and Frank Ocean, whose influence is most evident in these new songs.
The songs draw heavily on New York nightlife, and Arlo Parks partied a lot during the recording sessions, which is probably why her third album sounds so strikingly clubby. It brings to mind Theo Parrish’ s playful edits, and sometimes Burial. ‘ Blue Disco’ has slow house beats, ‘Nightswimming’ draws you onto the dance floor with more tempo and a rave vibe, even if there’ s no drop here. Then there are the rich breakbeats in ‘ Get Go’ reminiscent of Jamie xx. Modular synthesizers set the tone, and samplers are also used. In the bass-heavy ‘ Jetta’ , you can hear music and noises in a club at the end, while elsewhere snippets of conversations and telephone calls are embedded. This technique was recently popularised by British producer Fred again.
The press release also states that Arlo Parks was inspired by Paradise Garage. However, the club has not existed since 1987, and the building was demolished in 2018. For the queer and Black community, the New York club was an important place, indeed, probably a kind of heterotopia – a world within a world.
The club references on the album evoke feelings of collective happiness. But Arlo Parks still thinks a lot: for example, about why she can’ t find a home within herself. At one point, she sings about previous suicidal thoughts, and it’ s also about fear of love. Nevertheless, the songs offer one thing above all else: comfort. Vulnerability is a superpower for Arlo Parks. Her soft and unpretentious vocals immediately feel familiar.
‘Ambiguous Desire’ is like a good friend who puts his arm around us, now accompanies us to the club, and even helps with the dishes the next day.
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