Arlo Parks surprised the world in 2021 when she dropped her debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams. The set garnered placements on many “best of” lists for the year and earned Arlo GRAMMY nominations and the Mercury Prize. The singer-songwriter is set to deliver her anticipated follow-up My Soft Machine this year and she’s doing so with the release of the set’s lead single “Weightless.”
“Weightless” might seem a bit carefree if you’re going by its title only. In actuality, the track ironically deals with the heavier side of love. In a press statement, Arlo said that the song “surrounds the painful experience of caring deeply about someone who only gives you tiny breadcrumbs of affection.” She went on to say, “It’s about suddenly realising that a person has dulled your edges and embarking on the slow journey back to being a brighter version of yourself.”
She delivers the song’s themes over airy production that leans into a synth-pop sound, lifting the feel of the track while dealing with the deep pool of emotion and turmoil of which she sings. “There’s blue glass in the soft rain / You’re passive, I’m in pain / But I sparkle in the rare case / That you tell me I’m your sun ray,” she sings at one point. “I’m starved of your affection / You’re crushed under the pressure / But you won’t change.”
The song’s video is a collage of images, including Arlo performing in front of flickering flames and leaning out of the backseat window of a car with no driver. But the more dynamic ones are those focusing on a couple who share quiet moments as the world seems to burn and crash around them, giving us a beautiful metaphor of the situation that the song describes.
It looks like Arlo Parks is once again coming with quality. We can’t wait to hear what she has in store for us when My Soft Machine arrives on May 26th. Listen to “Weightless” and watch the song’s video when you press play below.