Arlo Parks My Soft Machine LP

Parks shares how the 2023 album and album title came to fruition:

"The world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience - our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. This record is life through my lens, through my body - the mid 20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self-sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity - what it's like to be trapped in this particular body. There is a quote from a Joanna Hogg film called The Souvenir, it's an A24 semi-autobiographical film with Tilda Swinton - it recounts a young film student falling in love with an older, charismatic man then being drawn into his addiction - in an early scene he's explaining why people watch films - 'we don't want to see life as it is played out we want to see life as it is experienced in this soft machine.' So, there we have it... My Soft Machine."

The album was recorded between London and Los Angeles throughout 2021-2022. Arlo worked alongside producers including Paul Epworth, Ariel Rechtshaid, Romil Hemnani (Brockhampton), Frank Ocean-collaborator Buddy Ross, and Carter Lang (SZA), whilst also self-producing a run of material on the album. The record features a guest vocal from musician and friend, Phoebe Bridgers.

we are fortunate to witness the evolution of this poet and songwriter