The Daily Spin, January 3
Arlo Parks | Collapsed In Sunbeams
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023. Today is day 3 of 365.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here.
If you want to suggest an album, good news! You can do so right here!
Album: Collapsed In Sunbeams (2021)
Artist: Arlo Parks
Link:
At her best, Arlo Parks is exactly the sort of music that opens a phenomenal film - driving beats, eclectic brass, all layered under the soft-spoken witty lyricism that draws you in, has your head nodding - the type of stuff to get you involved.
Collapsed in Sunbeams is an album full of these moments - from the first rollicking beats of Hurt to the simple late-night jazzy affair that is Hope, the plucky guitar strings that call memorable to RAC albums and the KAYTRANADA-like Bluish, it’s a versatile album that plays to infinite possibilities, myriad emotions and sensations - but in doing so, never truly seems to find a single identity that it wants to settle with, losing Parks in the process.
While it’s undeniable that Parks’ ability to camouflage into so many genres is stunning in its own right, it feels a bit whiplash, a bit like you’re never quite given time to settle on a single feeling for too long before it’s on to the next one - and though it’s not as what Parks is cycling through is particularly variant, it still doesn’t feel like you’re given those moments that can be so clarifying in the midst of an album, particularly that alters tone and sentiment with such ease.
As much as Arlo Parks nails the “opening song” energy, she too nails the sort of music that you might hear as the backing track at a Urban Outfitters in the Mall of America - enough for you to remark to your friends “hey, this song’s pretty good” and move on, nothing more than a brief bop of the head in memory.
Rating: 7.1/10
Best Tracks: Hope, Bluish
Worst Tracks: Black Dog, Eugene