Arlo Parks – Ambiguous Desire (Transgressive Records) (13th Floor Album Review)
Arlo Parks’ new album Ambiguous Desire, out today, suggests the artist releases long players with almost metronomic regularity. This is her third following her amazing debut, Collapsed in Sunbeams, in 2021 and 2023’s follow-up My Soft Machine.
That incredible debut scooped an armful of prizes, including AIM Independent Music Awards Album of the Year, The Mercury Prize for Best Album, Record of the Year in the Libera Awards, and BRIT Awards Best New Artist among others, plus even more nominations for top honours, including 2 Grammys, NME Awards, MOBO Awards and even an Ivor Novello Awards nomination.
After that start to a career, it was always a hard ask to follow, and My Soft Machine didn’t quite reach those giddy heights, although it was fairly well received among critics and fans alike.
Ambiguous Desire is the product of a more mature and experienced Parks, although at just 26 years of age, you’d have to ask, well, how much has she seen?
Well, quite a lot, it appears. She’s spent the last few years exploring the clubs of New York, split from Ashnikko after three years together, toured the world (including Auckland’s Powerstation in 2022) and released a book of poetry, The Magic Border. She’s even even credited with writing Ya Ya recorded by Beyoncé for 2024 album Cowboy Carter.
Oh, and she’s left her London stomping ground, making her new home in the sunny uplands of LA.
For this release, Parks worked closely with New York producer Baird, exploring the colourful, vibrant nightlife and communities of NYC and laying it out at Baird’s downtown loft. The result is a confident navigation of sounds rooted in her native British breakbeat scene merged with the hedonistic atmosphere of New York, evoking LCD Soundsystem’s synthesized accents and deep house grooves.
And over it all Parks’ poetic lyrics are delivered with her trademark breathy, ethereal vocals.
Parks says she’d never danced so much during the making of this record. “I made more friends than ever too, found myself in the weird underbelly of New York juke nights, unleashed, (and) laughed and laughed and laughed,” she says in the release notes. “This record has desire at its center. Desire is a life force, it’s a wanting, a yearning, a momentum… desire is an engine.”
That experience and desire have resulted in a sophisticated and nuanced sound matching Parks’ lyrical ambitions. It’s a step away from the raw, energetic sound of Collapsed in Sunbeams, an evolution as Parks grows from schoolgirl surprise to global phenomenon.
The singles released ahead of the album are testament to that development.
Heaven starts with a programmed click track and gradually builds in layers before Park’s angelic voice chimes in – I wish I had the language, To tell you the way this feels, this feels, You’re embedded in me like mascara. The drop comes with a heavy bassline and piano licks like flickering stars and you’re transported to the dance floor, pulsing rhythmically.
Get Go, the third single from this release, premiered as BBC Radio 1’s hottest record, blending breakbeats with a catchy refrain that will stay in your head all day. This is a song about the nightclub scene, that desire word again, and, ultimately, a life on repeat – I knew we had it from the get-go, But I don’t wanna let go, Yeah, I don’t wanna let go. You’ll be singing those line a while.
Similarly, on Senses (featuring Sampha), that earworm will hook you and you can pick who to sing along with, Parks or Sampha – Is it better than, is it better than
I can’t find no love, no love for myself…
Parks confronts love lost and despair on Beams. The music swirls behind her as she sings – I know I said I’d be okay, but you’re smashin’ me up, I know it’s late where you are, but I can’t bear hangin’ up – It’s a slower number, almost laboured, conjuring the intensity and emotional wrenching of a break-up – Oh, it broke my heart, when you pulled away, Corner shard of sunset hangin’ red… I feel it all, I feel it all
Nothing at all.
This is really mature writing mixed with sublime music-making. Parks has that ability to immerse herself in a place and time and portray that environment, resonating with astute observation and emotional honesty.
From the seismic rumblings of her teenage years to the eruption aged 20 with Collapsed in Sunbeams, Parks has continued to grow and build on those groundbreaking foundations. Chameleon-like, she imbues the essence of New York nightlife on this LP but still maintains a link to her roots, as she acquires another layer to her character.
This LP grows with each listening, and then you’ll want to play it again. It’ll be on repeat at my house for some time to come.
Alex Robertson
Ambiguous Desire is out now via Transgressive Records
