REVIEW: On ‘My Soft Machine,’ arloparks expands her sonic palette while digging in deeper emotionally. Read our review of the UK pop prodigy’s second album.
sounds like something to luxuriate in; Parks sings and lays down poetry over plush textures and simmering beats. But a closer listen reveals that these pillowy structures are, in fact, cushions against the blows of modern life—bulwarks that keep Parks’ self, the “soft machine” referenced in the album title, moving without cutting herself off or suffering too much long-term damage.
Parks is a pop prodigy; she got noticed by a management company as a teen and won the 2021 Mercury Prize with her debut album, which came out when she was months away from turning 21. That album’s blend of bedroom-pop sensibilities and intricately detailed lyrics felt very in tune with the homespun vibes of the early pandemic, even as the experiences described by Parks’ supple, soothing voice possessed a depth that indicated boundless curiosity.
Parks has a skill for inviting listeners not only into her mind, but into her immediate environment, and the effects bring her racing emotions right to the forefront. The gently groove-forward “Blades” places Parks’ longing for an ex-intimate amidst a party outfitted with totems of the good life—Diptyque candles, tequila cocktails—that only make the “regret… flowering inside me while I’m scooping ice” hit harder.
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