New Music From London
(https://ffm.to/arlo-parks-black-dog), both of which were playlisted simultaneously on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music A-lists and have amassed millions of streams worldwide. Arlo also recently lent her vocal to the Glass Animals single “Tangerine,” and Fraser T. Smith’s latest track “Strangers In The Night” with the pair recently performing together on Later With… Jools Holland. 2020 continues to see Arlo ascend, as she adds a starring role in the recent Gus Van Sant directed campaign for Gucci, alongside Billie Eillish, Harry Styles, Florence Welch and more, to her accumulating accolades. Recent press features have seen Arlo grace the cover of Evening Standard Magazine, Rollacoaster Magazine, NME and Dork Magazine as well as being included on the 2020 Dazed 100 List (https:// www.dazeddigital.com/projects/article/ 48866/1/arlo-parks-musician-biographydazed-100-2020-profile). Arlo was also recently named the winner of the BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year Award. Arlo has also been named an ambassador for the British mental health charity, CALM. Whilst her songwriting has seen her gain new fans in Billie Eilish, Florence Welch, Michelle Obama, Angel Olsen, Phoebe Bridgers and Wyclef Jean, amongst many others.
photo credit: Alexandra Waespi
Arlo Parks Releases New Song “Caroline” Debut Album Colapsed In Sunbeams Out January 29th Via Transgressive Arlo Parks released new single “Caroline” alongside a lyric video. The Discussing the song, Arlo offered track is another gorgeous offering from the following. “Caroline is an exercise her her highly-anticipated debut album in people watching and seeing situations Collapsed In Sunbeams - due on January unfold without context. It’s an explora29th 2021 via Transgressive Records. tion of how something once full of Premiering as Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest healthy passion can dissolve in an Record,’ “Caroline” once more offers instant.” another insight into the beguiling sound of Arlo Parks - an alternative love song “Caroline” follows “Green Eyes” laced with her trademark breathy vocals, (https://arloparks.ffm.to/greeneyes) and atop lamenting guitar licks and a the recent hit singles “Hurt” (https:// euphoric heartbroken chorus. ffm.to/arlo-parks-hurt) and “Black Dog” 34 Rock and Blues International • August 2020 50 December 2020
This is all whilst performing standout shows for the revered COLORS and NPR’s Tiny Desk series - plus being one of only three artists to perform at Glastonbury this year. 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 journaling 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,
