Arlo Parks discusses her “favourite record” by Sufjan Stevens
Following the release of her latest album My Soft Machine, Arlo Parks made a trip down to Amoeba Records in Los Angeles to discuss her record collection. During her visit, she picked up an outtakes version of her “favourite record” by Sufjan Stevens, Carrie and Lowell.
When discussing the album, Parks explained how much she appreciated Stevens’s honesty, describing it as “melancholy mixed with gentleness”. Stevens had written the LP as a reaction to the death of his parents, with their likeness appearing on the album cover.
Parks also described ‘John My Beloved’ as one song that she has returned to relentlessly, saying that she plays it when she’s on tour. The track details Stevens’s view of relationships before addressing Jesus Christ in the final verse.
When discussing the thought process behind the record, Parks described the kind of emotional vulnerability put into the album, continuing, “This record is kind of the way that he was processing his grief and loss and sort of reflecting back over his life”.
While the latest revisit of the record included outtakes and demos from the project, Park was in favour of it, stating, “demos and outtakes, hearing the breath and a little bit of buzz on the guitar. That’s what I love about this particular record, and I have everything else from him”.
Parks did have a love for the heavier side of music as well, including Deftones’ 2000 album White Pony in her picks, which she described as one of the foundational records of her angsty phase. Some of her other picks included My Bloody Valentine, Sophie, and Arthur Verocai.
Outside of talking about her favourite albums, Parks has just released her latest LP, My Soft Machine, produced by Paul Epworth. Far Out’s review of the album described the release as “a mix of lo-fi and chillwave beats bumping up against jazzy chord progressions and laidback drum loops”.
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