Arlo-Parks-Ambiguous-Desire-album-2026
After having recounted the fragility of a generation, Arlo Parks returns with “Ambiguous Desire”, a record that flows between the lights and shadows of the clubs on New York nights.
When “Collapsed in The Sunbeams” by the (still briefly) semi-unknown Arlo Parks came out, something broke. That record had landed in the hearts of many of us with a certain crash, and in the impact it had opened some cracks. The difference from what normally causes a rift, however, is that Parks also brought with him all the equipment to heal it. We felt shaken, exposed, but at the same time, finally, “told”. The English singer was defined as “the voice of a generation” because she sang the submerged emotions of those who juggled the uncertainty of the unsaid.
Today, since 2021, with Covid upon us, we have understood that it is not useful to hold back: we have let confusion, disorientation, lack of points of reference, lack of listening explode. Today there is a renewed generation, also thanks to those who have chosen to share their discomfort.
Arlo Parks talked about mental health and the difficulty of feeling accepted and taken seriously when no one had yet understood that it was really necessary to expose oneself. Today, after the first highly acclaimed work and the second “Soft Machine”, which although valid did not keep up with the leaders, the singer returns with “Ambiguous Desire”.
In between, he felt he had to preserve his well-being, wait, do things to feel good. And so the desire to move elsewhere was also born, towards a new but precise musical style, contaminated by one of the symbolic cities of clubbing and possibilities: New York. Parks' new destination is precisely the night, to which he has added his musical references, the essential contribution of Baird, and therefore synths and samplers. All this without losing that ability to talk about everyday life with disenchantment, often as an observer, sometimes as a protagonist, but always with authentic images of a life that is being lived now, not yesterday and not even tomorrow.
Through Parks' lyrics we see places, we meet people (we hear their names pronounced), we smell smells, we hear sounds: we are in his universe, and sometimes it seems that everything goes as expected (Thinking 'bout the way I can't detach 'Cause I just wanna stay), sometimes less so (I can't find no love, no love for myself). Surely, we perceive ourselves as more and more real.
SCORE: 7.25
OTHERS' VOTES:
The Independent: 8.00
Clash Music: 8.00
Pitchfork. 7.10
Uncut: 7.00
TO LISTEN NOW
Heavern – Beams – What If I Say
TO BE SKIPPED IMMEDIATELY
All enjoyable
TRACKLIST
Blue Disco
Jetta
Get Go
Senses ft. Sampha
Heaven
Beams
South Seconds
Nightswimming
2SIDED
Luck Of Life
What If I Say It?
Floette
THE DISCOGRAPHY
2021 – Collapsed in Sunbeams
2023 – My Soft Machine
2026 – Ambiguous Desire
