Arlo Parks Captures Midnight Emotions On Ambiguous Desire

Over the past couple of years, Arlo Parks found herself drawn to nightlife, finally allowing herself the freedom to “live and explore” while leaning into what she calls “spontaneity and playfulness.” Earlier in her career she had little chance to live that way, especially after her 2021 debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams brought widespread attention and kept her constantly touring. After releasing her 2023 album My Soft Machine, she made a conscious choice to focus more on living in the moment. That decision often led her into late night spaces and new experiences.

“I love Nowadays. I love Bossa. I love Basement. Those Coloring Lessons nights musclecars put on. Black Flamingo, before it was closed,” she says, listing the New York venues that became part of her routine. After performing in Brooklyn during a 2024 tour, Parks says she became deeply attached to the city and also “someone who lived there,” which encouraged her to spend more time around what she calls her “new loves.” She describes the friendships she built, the neighbourhood walks through Brooklyn, the rush of joy she felt, and the central feeling behind many of those experiences, a strong sense of desire she describes as “tangled, random, enlightening, and human.”

That sense of freedom eventually pushed her toward creating new music, which became her upcoming third album Ambiguous Desire. “There was something bubbling,” Parks tells NME during a video interview from London shortly before the album’s release. “I was ready. I felt excited.”

As the 25 year old artist started shaping the new project, she realised it felt like the most honest reflection of herself she had ever put into music. “When I was in the studio with [my producer] Baird, it was more about experimenting and freestyling,” she explains. “I start an album making process by making things that end up fitting together. Then the puzzle reveals itself.”

Collaborating with Baird, known for work with Brockhampton and Kevin Abstract, inside his downtown loft, the earliest songs for Ambiguous Desire were created rapidly. Parks notes this is something she has experienced on previous albums as well. “[That] happened to me with my last two records as well,” she says. “There’s a period of time where three songs will come, and it feels like the backbone of something.”

For this album, those key early tracks included opener “Blue Disco,” which begins with buzzing synth textures and relaxed guitar parts before gradually building as Parks softly repeats: “I always knew I would find you”. “Heaven” mixes a fractured dance rhythm with layered instrumentation while she paints a scene of “bodies in the summer breeze,” capturing sensations like heat and gasoline as the production swells before dropping into deep bass for the chorus. On “Senses,” she explores the emotional push and pull of a harmful relationship, repeating the question “Is it better than nothing?” while Sampha’s rich vocal tone adds depth to the track.“I enjoyed the fact that each of those songs was slightly different and gave me a different piece of information,” Parks explains. “‘Heaven’ was the slightly more risky or adventurous song where I was making edgier choices. ‘Senses’ was about being truly vulnerable more than ever before. And ‘Blue Disco’ was holding onto the storytelling and warmer sounds.”

Other songs on the record include “2sided,” which captures the nervous anticipation before approaching someone you are drawn to, built over steady synth layers and rhythmic drum programming. There is also the relaxed groove of “South Seconds,” inspired by time spent walking along Williamsburg’s South 2nd Street. On that track, Parks sings with emotional vulnerability, “You cut through me, and that’s not a bad thing,” while incorporating a voice note from a friend.

Arlo Parks credit: Sully

She describes each track as a preserved memory from a particular place and moment in time. “The way I freeze those moments is through songs, and that’s how I immortalise these things. I don’t wanna forget.” She says she has always felt driven to record her experiences, writing down “every single detail” in her journal as soon as she returns home. This includes everything from what she was wearing to the colour of the sky and even how fast the car was moving. “I want it to become songs and to live forever through that medium,” she explains.

Across the 12 songs that make up Ambiguous Desire, listeners can sense the layers of sound and atmosphere as Parks’ songwriting brings each setting to life. Her decision to slow down and allow herself time creatively played a major role in shaping the record. “The artists I’ve always looked up to have taken their time. They have intermittently gone through moments of being prolific and throwing out mixtapes or double singles,” she says, mentioning Dev Hynes, Solange, and Sampha. “All these artists have their own pacing. [With] this third record, I wanted to experiment, and I wanted to grow and learn. It felt like time to do things a little differently. I’ve always wanted to be a career artist and have long thought about this long arc creative journey of my life.”

Following intense touring schedules, relocating from London to Los Angeles, and navigating a public relationship and breakup with Ashnikko, creating this album became a form of emotional release for Parks. “It definitely was about healing,” she says. “It was about putting words to a lot of feelings. It was about falling in love. It was about self acceptance and wanting to understand myself better and my place in the world, wanting to express myself and have fun. For me, the music has always been this place to disentangle complicated feelings I have or remember some of the best days or nights, beautiful moments I’ve had with a person.” By the end of the process, she says she felt “more confident and settled into myself as a person”.

It was not only the creative process that influenced her, but also the nightlife experiences in New York that helped shape the record. After discovering how meaningful dancing and nightlife could be, she hopes to carry that sense of joy, movement, and openness into the future. “It’s something that has taken time, and it’s a big part of what keeps me balanced and what makes me feel happy,” she says. “I think being intentional about finding a way to take care of myself or enjoy something in the day [is important]. Even when I am really busy and travelling, I still love going dancing.”

“The way I freeze those moments is through songs, and that’s how I immortalise these things. I don’t wanna forget”

While her earlier albums leaned toward indie pop with soft guitars, understated percussion, and lo fi textures, this new project moves more toward club inspired sounds, drawing from house, electronic, and techno influences while still keeping her atmospheric style. When thinking about how listeners might respond to this evolution toward more reflective and ambient tones, she hopes the album becomes something comforting. “I hope it offers people a soft place to land and listen to as they move through their own journeys,” she says. “It’s a record that might connect with people who are also in a transitional moment in life or trying to build up the courage to reach for some dream or fall in love. I hope it soundtracks a distinct period in someone’s life.”

She also hopes the album encourages fans to explore movement, dancing, and new sounds. “The people who gravitated to my earlier music that was more rooted in guitars and indie sounds and slightly softer, might not have heard of Burial,” she says, mentioning the electronic producer known for moody club music. “I hope it will be a discovery for a lot of people.”