After breaking through to mainstream success in 2021, UK indie star Arlo Parks is ready to follow through with her new project.
On Wednesday (Jan. 18), Parks officially announced the impending release of her sophomore studio album My Soft Machine. Due out May 26 via Transgressive Records, the new LP promises to be a more expansive look at Parks’ life, with songs dedicated to both telling the truth of her lived experience while coloring them through her own artistic expression.
“This record is life through my lens, through my body,” Parks said in a statement regarding My Soft Machine. “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.”
To celebrate the announcement, Parks is also giving fans a taste of what’s to come with the album’s first single. “Weightless” stands out immediately from Parks’ slowed down, groove-focused tracks of the past — outfitted with a frenetic beat and heavy-synth production, the track marks a new sonic direction for the star while keeping her lyrical acuity intact. “You crush under the pressure/ But you won’t change, no, you won’t change,” she croons on the track’s pre-chorus. “I don’t wanna wait for you.”
The new album follow’s Parks’ debut LP, 2021’s Collapsed in Sunbeams. Following critical raves for her album, Parks ended up earning two Grammy nominations — Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album — for her work on the project, while also winning best new artist at the Brit Awards and the Mercury Prize in the UK.
Pre-order My Soft Machine here and watch the official video for “Weightless” above.
