My Soft Machine / Arlo Parks / May 26, 2023
- Joshua Yoo
- Jul 12, 2023
- 1 min read
Like many early acclaimed artists with award-winning debut albums, following up the anticipation with a stellar sophomore album has proven to be a pretty difficult task. In Arlo Parks’ case, she leans further into her softer, bedroom pop/R&B aesthetics with relatively mild results and a sense of safety in ambition.
The hazy, glowing instrumentation that pervaded her previous album shows up on ‘My Soft Machine’ as well, warmer and fuzzier here though. It creates an overall comforting atmosphere, combined with Arlo Parks’ uniquely delicate timbre to envelop listeners like a blanket. The featured “Pegasus” with Phoebe Bridgers exemplifies this atmosphere best, as the tender guitar lines and vocal harmonies are heartwarming from front to back.
The flip-side of such a disarming musical aesthetic is the potential lack of engagement across an entire album length, and with absences in solid song structure for a number of tracks here, this unfortunately takes shape. The washed out synths and dreary shuffle of “Blades” or the overall dull energy on the closer “Ghost” are both evidence of the lack of memorable highs all across the project.
Sharper and perhaps more ambitious idea-taking could be the remedy, but the command Arlo Parks has of her sound is still commendable.
Highlight(s): Impurities, I’m Sorry, Pegasus
Lowlight(s): Dog Rose, Puppy, Blades
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