Arlo Parks — Collapsed In Sunbeams — Album Review
Soul | R&B
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Disclaimer
This is a review of the standard edition of Collapsed in Sunbeams, and not the deluxe version. Therefore, I will be focusing on the 12 primary tracks, to help shape my verdict.
I’m not quite sure exactly when the first time I knew about singer/songwriter Arlo Parks was (it was either as a feature on Easily Life’s mixtape Junk Food, or from me listening to a little bit of her single “Eugene” surrounding it’s release), but she had been someone who had fluttered across a small crumb of my musical 2020.
The only other piece of Arlo Parks musical material I had listened to, between then, and this time a week ago, was her single “Black Dog”, which I believed arrived in May of last year, as served as the track that gave me the most of who Arlo Parks was in 2020. In other words, her warmth and romanticism creating a feel that was truly genuine.
With that, and a refreshed outlook towards a relatively new musical year, I was excited to venture into Parks’ brand new debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams.
And while Arlo Parks had released a fair few other tracks since “Black Dog”, which includes a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”, those tracks slipped past my attention, for one reason or another. Nevertheless, even with a good chunk of Park’s 2020 releases appearing on this album, Collapsed in Sunbeams arrived as a pretty fresh experience for me, which ultimately proved to let its exciting and emotionally compelling nature show.
It didn’t really come as a surprise to me, that Arlo Parks sings in a way that feels like she’s trying to comfort me through a dark time, and that it pretty much feels that way throughout most of the record. But I was pleased to find that musically, Park’s instrumentals, in a lot of cases, proved to be a bit more upbeat, and even jazzy (at a stretch) than the soft, bedroom-pop-esque style I was expecting.
Some glistening examples of this are tracks two and three, “Hurt” and “Too Good”. The former, with an almost moody kick, and a subtle hint of sax. I could see the production of this track being a good fit for somebody like Little Simz, but that definitely isn’t to say that Arlo doesn’t do this instrumental a great deal of justice. As for the latter, the luminous, heavenly, and highly soulful feel truly lifted my spirits, and for me, it stood as one of the album’s most memorable highlights.
It was great to see that kind of soulful feel mixed in with the soft and soothing Arlo tunes I was used to. And while the tracks blend into each other really well, a lot of the tracks stand out from one-another just enough, to make Collapsed in Sunbeams feel like a project that you can listen to either through a selections of singles, or as a start-to-finish experience.
I am thrilled to put a stamp on January 2021, with this incredibly personable and soul-warming project, which truly paints Arlo Parks, as a trailblazer for an unapologetically kind and loving singer/songwriter, thoroughly deserving of all the praise she receives.
Favourite Tracks: Hurt | Too Good | Portra 400
Least Favourite Track: For Violet
Arlo Parks | Transgressive Records
Enjoyment: 9/10 | Memorability: 8/10 | Atmosphere: 8/10
Uniqueness: 7/10 | Satisfaction: 8/10 | Narrative: 8/10
