Record of the Week: Arlo Parks, ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’

Florence Welch is “obsessed”, Phoebe Bridgers called her an “incredible poet”, and our own News Editor Alexander Pan called her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams “40 minutes of excellence”.

20-year-old singer-songwriter Arlo Parks, who was raised in London to Nigerian/Chadian-French parents, has been turning heads since she was a teenager. However it’s her debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams that has brought with it a whole new horde of lifetime converts.

Treading lightly in parts, and powerfully in others, it’s a record about identity, anxiety, love, and loneliness. Stream Arlo Parks’ debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams below, then read up on why the team here at Tone Deaf love it so much.

Check out Collapsed In Sunbeams by Arlo Parks:

“Arlo Parks’ early EPs set the stage for something great and she exceeds all expectations with her stunning debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams. Showing off her versatility and an unexpected amount of emotional vulnerability, the album is 40 minutes of excellence that juxtaposes its easy-to-listen vibe with some gut-wrenching lyricism. We’re only one month into 2021 but it seems like we’ve hit upon the first frontrunner for album of the year.”
– Alexander Pan

“There’s a distinct pleasure that an Arlo Parks bestows upon you. Maybe it’s the breezy instrumentation, or the verbose, hard-hitting lyricism that makes you question your place in the world. But whatever the case, it’s clear that her debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams, is the very definition of a record that will endure for decades to come. Immersive and forward-thinking, there’s nary a dud moment throughout it’s 40-minute runtime, with the decadent neo soul sounds leaving you wanting so, so much more.”
– Tyler Jenke

Check out Arlo Parks’ video for ‘Hope’:

Arlo Parks
Collapsed In Sunbeams Tracklisting

1. Collapsed In Sunbeams
2. Hurt
3. Too Good
4. Hope
5. Caroline
6. Black Dog
7. Green Eyes
8. Just Go
9. For Violet
10. Eugene
11. Bluish
12. Portra 400

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