ARLO PARKS
MY SOFT MACHINE
TRANSGRESSIVE
★★★★★
Leaning into her pop side after winning Brits and the Mercury Prize with 2021 debut Collapsed In Sunbeams, the Londoner crafts soul-pop anthems including Dog Rose and Devotion to join poetic insights like the touching Room. The self-lacerating I’m Sorry and Phoebe Bridgers duet Pegasus show Parks can break hearts. But, for all its lyrical power, My Soft Machine is mostly about bringing joy and weightlessness. Rather than feel the pressure of success, Parks is using acclaim to dream bigger. She might want to make room for more trophies.