
It’s a tricky time to be an emerging artist. Arlo Parks started 2020 with a headlining tour through Europe that couldn’t be completed because of public heath lockdowns, prompting the need to find other ways to keep her name out there, performing a couple songs with Phoebe Bridgers among the most recent of those efforts. And she’s continued to seed new music into the culture, all in preparation for the release of her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, early next year.
The latest track is “Caroline,” a new-soul, indie-pop gleamer. It’s luxuriant and lovely, containing a darker undercurrent in the lyrics that describe watching an argument unfold between two people spied on a London Street. It’s the kind of song that invites — maybe demands — attention, as the consummate craft of it is enveloping. No matter the obstacles, an artist like this is going to find a way to break through.