If you’ve ever been alone driving down the interstate late at night you know the importance of a good soundtrack. It’s what keeps the drive going and you from falling asleep. When it's really locked in, it can make a mundane drive turn into a revelatory experience. I discovered the next great late night drive album with Arlo Park's Ambiguous Desire.
The opening notes of “Blue Disco” establish the vibe. This is a melancholic track, but it’s not sad — it’s uplifting. That may sound contradictory, but the track achieves this conflicting feeling in a masterful way. It's a testament to the songwriting ability of Parks. Not just any anyone can nail that juxtaposition of feeling.
Lead single "2SIDED" toes the line between dance track and R&B tune. Imagine if Charli XCX decided to chill out the party vibes of Brat and teamed up with Nilüfer Yanya for a re-release. It's an album standout that should get people moving on the dance floor.
“Beams” has drums (that could rival John Bohnam's “When the Levee Breaks”) that beat under lyrics about being done wrong by an ex-lover. Once again, this track hits the night vibes out of the park. Parks' softspoken delivery and the emotional preciseness of her storytelling turns this track into another album standout. Parks doesn’t rely on spectacles here either. The lyrics sneak up on you and leave you thinking about the track long after it’s over. For me, her constant mentions that she’s “scared of what she’s done,” but then never telling me what she’s done left my imagination trying to figure it out.
“Nightswimming” takes you down what could almost be an EDM rabbit hole, but the vocals and piano accents keep everything neatly aligned. It's an emotional roller coaster, but as with her other tracks, Parks keeps everything from going into the realm of the overly dramatic with her subdued, beautifully delivered vocal.
Simply put, Ambigious Desire is Arlo Parks at her best. Every track is either good or really good. There are no weak moments. Compared to her previous two records, My Soft Machine and Collapsed in Sunbeams (both solid albums), Ambgious Desire shows growth. It's a fine tuning of the Arlo Parks sound, and she has a new confidence that wasn’t fully on display before.
