– THE MILITARY COUP –

London-based singer, Arlo Parks has been bubbling under for a couple of years now.

Her debut single Cola (a “reminder that betrayal is inevitable when it comes to pretty people that think flowers fix everything”) was released in November 2018 and led to an EP Super Sad Generation as well as performances at Glastonbury, Latitude and The Great Escape festivals last year.

However, she emerged with a bang just around Christmas when she was tagged as “One to Watch” by the Guardian newspaper and the “Sound of 2020” by the BBC, beckoning in the “sound of emo 2.0” in the process.

Sophie is a great example of why Gen Zs are starting to find happiness in their misery once again.

Part Massive Attack, part Portishead, it glows with the sort of moody, disengaged angst that only truly comes from having tight-as-buggery musicians playing tunes they really vibe off.

And the singer, herself, has a talent for writing hooks that creep up on you. So understatedly brilliant are they, in fact, that Parks even manages to slip in what sounds like a playground song in the middle of a track that disconcertingly starts with the lyrics “I talk to girls that sing about asphyxiation.”

The Sophie EP is out now through Beatnik Creative.

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

ULY: PAK IT IN
NICKI WELLS: MOOLADHARA
BROTHER’S TESTAMENT: KINGDOM
NEIL COWLEY + BEN LUKAS BOYSEN: SOLITARY REFINEMENT

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –