
Mark Savage speaks to singer-songwriter Arlo Parks about her life and music career.
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Mark Savage
hello, I'm Mark Savage, the BBC's music correspondent and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. The best conversations coming out of the BBC people shaping our world from all over the world. If you're not a little bit afraid then you're not paying attention.
Arlo Parks
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Mark Savage
like I'm not We're more popular than populism. For this interview, I met the Mercury Prize winning singer songwriter Arlo Parks in East London. Born on the other side of the city, the half Nigerian, quarter Chadian and quarter French artist whose real name is Anais Mourinho, has enjoyed great success in her music career since her debut album was released in 2021. Having broken onto the music scene two years prior, Parks has performed twice at the Glastonbury Music Festival in England, supported the likes of Harry Styles and Billie Eilish on tour and and even written for Beyonce. It's been something of a whirlwind journey for the 25 year old who's returned with a new album after taking some time out of the spotlight in order to reclaim some normality in her life.
Arlo Parks
I knew that I wanted to take a little bit of time to pause and just really live. My life has always been really nomadic. So even though I've been in LA for four years, I still spend a lot of time in London and in Paris and in New York. So it feels like, you know, I'm still getting different versions of life all the time. I've definitely been in like an exploratory phase again. I've been going to a lot of like record shops as I've been traveling and kind of collecting. Collecting records that I haven't really heard of. You know, I'm a music fan above everything and because I was spending so much time on the road, I had less time to go to shows, go to DJ sets, like, be lost in the crowd and experience that sense of like, anonymity and being carried away by, you know, other people's enjoyment and experiences of the music. So it was nice to kind of be, yeah, like nestled in the middle of things rather than being on stage, you know, performing. And that just put me in a more kind of free and confident time in my life. So, yeah, it was really formative.
Mark Savage
Welcome to the interview from the BBC World Service with Arlo Parks. You live in LA now, right? So how has that affected like family, relationships, your day to day life? What, what's the change been like? Because I imagine LA is very different to Hammersmith, right?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, it is very different. I mean, you know what, my life has always been really nomadic. So even though I've been in LA for four years, I still spend a lot of time in London and in Paris and in New York. So it feels like, you know, I'm still getting different versions of life all the time, even though I'm based there. But I really enjoy the pace of life. I really enjoy nature and the ocean and sun. I like having space to write and like, you know, even like the large open roads and being in the car and journeying that inspired those late night drives, inspired a lot of like some of the production choices on the record. And I built up such a nice community out there. I think of people who like, I. Some, for some, in some way, I always managed to find like the outsiders and like the weird kids in the music industry. You know, like we all band together, we find each other somehow. And I found that little.
Mark Savage
Like, isn't everybody in the music industry technically an outsider? Like you don't get into it if you're the cool kid because you don't have anything to write about.
Arlo Parks
That is true. That's true. Touche, Mark. I love that.
Mark Savage
Tell me a bit about that time off at the end of the last tour and got back into real life, I guess, after quite a whirlwind five years.
Arlo Parks
Yeah, exactly. So, you know, I knew that I wanted to take a little bit of time to pause and just really live. And I ended up spending a lot more time in, like, nocturnal spaces and club spaces and connecting more with, like, my sense of movement and kind of getting out of my head and more into my body. And that gave me a more kind of intuitive production process and also just put me in a more kind of free and confident time in my life. So, yeah, it was really formative.
Mark Savage
I'm sure somebody else has made this parallel, but you were doing that at the exact same time as Harry Styles was doing the same thing. And he said in one of his interviews, I thought this was really interesting, that he needed to step away from being on the stage side of enjoying music and feel what it was like to be part of the audience again. Is that something you went through?
Arlo Parks
Definitely, yeah. And I think, you know, I'm a music fan above everything, and because I was spending so much time on the road, I had less time to go to shows, be lost in the crowd, and experience that sense of, like, anonymity and being carried away by, you know, other people's enjoyment and experiences of the music. So it was nice to kind of be. Yeah, like, nestled in the middle of things rather than being on stage, you know, performing.
Mark Savage
And when you take all of that back to the studio, how do you navigate a path where. Where you're absorbing that music, but adapting it to your aesthetic and your world and your songwriting?
Arlo Parks
I mean, I think my music has always kind of been a collage, and I think I kind of take what intrigues me from different genres and different lyrics or moods. Kind of bring out different parts of that taste, if that makes sense. So on a song like Blue Disco, for example, I was listening to a lot of, like, Low and Cocteau Twins and shoegaze music, and I was like, ah, I love those tones. The kind of fuzzy, chorusy guitar tone. And I'd always loved that. But then I wrote these lyrics that felt kind of nostalgic and specific, and I was like, okay, I need to apply that little sliver of what I love to this song. So I think the story very much informs, like, what sonic palette I bring to the music.
Mark Savage
That's really cool. I love the lyrics to that song. Because I feel like I've been at that house party with you. I love that. Are you the person? Do you host house parties or do you. Are you.
Arlo Parks
Yeah, I am. I'm the host because I love to cook and I love to dj. Sometimes I'll just, like, put my decks on my living room table and just do a little set for my friends. I love it.
Mark Savage
That's really cool. What do you cook?
Arlo Parks
Honestly, a bit of everything. I do a really nice roast chicken. I love doing, like, a spread of, like, tacos for everyone and salads and just going to the farmer's market and making things up.
Mark Savage
That's very cool. So you're good enough, confident enough that you can just, like, open a cupboard and freestyle?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. It took me a while, but I was like, I want to get good at this. That was part of my journey, I think. Clubbing and cooking.
Mark Savage
Clubbing and cooking. Because when you're coming down, you need to eat.
Arlo Parks
You need to eat. It's true. You need to eat. Yes.
Mark Savage
What's your best chef's hangover cure?
Arlo Parks
Oh, that's a good question. I feel like a proper English breakfast that will, like, get me. That will get me right in the morning.
Mark Savage
What's your standpoint on black pudding?
Arlo Parks
Oh, it's gonna be a no from me.
Mark Savage
It's a no from me as well, but people are very funny about it. Some people wouldn't eat a cooked breakfast without you.
Arlo Parks
I know. I can't. I just can't. Knowing what's in it exactly. Just knowing.
Mark Savage
Just knowing that kind of specificity. What I love about the album is that it is about exploring nightlife. You've got all aspects of life in there. Meeting someone who's just broken up with their boyfriend, that kind of classic crying in the toilets thing, and helping them through that, and that feels really real. What were the stories that influenced you, lyric wise, when you were writing?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, there were lots of different stories, I think, as you say. Like on Get Go, one of the songs was. Yeah, about kind of like crying on the dance floor. And that space being a place for kind of healing and crying in public and everyone kind of trying to release or move through things. And there was a friend of mine who was doing just that and had just broken up with her boyfriend. And I was like, let's just go dancing. Let's just be flooded with loud music and you can cry and we can just release this. And then the story of me falling in love with my now partner and experiencing that sense of Falling in love deeply with someone as you're falling in love with these club spaces, and feeling a sense of belonging with this person and in a community. So it was very much bringing, like, these little vignettes to life that I had really lived.
Mark Savage
That's what's amazing, isn't it? Because I think if you go to a concert or a theater event or a gallery, you don't get that connection with people that you do at a club. And maybe that's just because of the length of time you're there. And maybe people's barriers are down.
Arlo Parks
Definitely. I feel like everyone's, as you say, everyone's guard is down. And I think everyone's kind of equally vulnerable in a way. There's something. It feels quite democratized, almost like we're all kind of on this dance floor on the same level, experiencing the same music in this space. And there's something about those spaces that feels magic in that way. All those little snippets of conversation and fleeting, really intense connection sometimes.
Mark Savage
And there was something I noticed on a couple of songs on Beams and Night Swimming is that the lyrics repeat more than they do on your previous records. And I wondered if that was just encapsulating that feeling of being caught in the moment. I think you literally say that on Night Swing, don't you?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, it is about being caught in the moment. And I think a lot of those two particular songs as well. I wanted the repetition to kind of almost mirror, like, these cyclical thoughts that kind of like. Either it's like a spiral or like a fixation, or when you get kind of locked onto one specific feeling, or you're trying to almost freeze the moment by reminding yourself of how it felt again and again and again. So I wanted to use repetition as, like, a tool in that way.
Mark Savage
And you've got to, like, in the past, play your songs in front of these huge crowds with Billy and Harry and people like that. Do you have ambitions to bring this music to. To that scale? Can you see it being played in the stadium?
Arlo Parks
Wow. I mean, I think I would. It's interesting because my instinct is to say, yes, that I would love to do that, but I think maybe it would be in the similar context of, like, somebody. In the same way that Harry is, like, bringing smaller artists and allowing them to showcase music that might be a little bit more kind of niche or weirder on this massive scale. I would love to do something like that again.
Mark Savage
You're listening to the interview from the BBC World Service.
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Mark Savage
I met the singer songwriter Arlo Parks at her record company offices in East London. She'd spent the whole morning signing copies of her latest album, Ambiguous Desire, with these big, big looping black ink marks, and she was clearly relieved at the chance to take a break from that and have a regular human conversation. Now, we've chatted several times over the years, ever since she broke out with big emotional songs like Black Dog and Eugene at the start of the 2000s. And one thing you notice is that she's one of those musicians whose speaking voice is almost exactly the same as the one you hear on record. It's gentle and soulful and conversational. But I did notice a little change. Arlo is more confident, more assured, a sign that taking time off between her second and third albums has allowed her to grow not just as an artist, but as a human being. Okay, let's return to my conversation with Arlo Parks. Having taken that time off, which obviously sounds like it was crucial, like, in so many ways, did you have any fears about coming back? Were you worried that people, you know, people do think, am I going to be forgotten about?
Arlo Parks
I mean, there is always that feeling, you know, especially I think in a period of time where there's a lot of kind of generation like generating content and being prolific and being kind of consistently there and putting yourself out there all the time is kind of the, you know, sphere that we live in in a way. But I also was thinking a lot about, you know, artists that I really look up to. Even in recent years, making These records that then became timeless and generational because you can feel the time that the music has had to percolate. And I was like, I want that. I don't necessarily want it to be the most giant album of all time and, you know, be selling out stadiums. I want something that lasts and that feels timeless and thoughtful. So when I had that in my mind as the goal, it made me feel able to trust the process and trust the choice I had made to take more time.
Mark Savage
Yeah, and I think there's something quite wise about choosing that path because I think aiming for. I mean, your first album won the Mercury Prize. If you're aiming for that every time, that's a dead end, right?
Arlo Parks
Yeah. I mean, it's just impossible, I think. And my favorite art is even thinking about, like, Rain, Radiohead or Bjork. Like, there's the fan favorites, there's the ones that are more, you know, commercially well received and there's the critics favorite, and then there's the one, like 30 years later, everyone's like, it was a masterpiece. So I think I'm kind of content to have the ebbs and flows and, you know, popularity or whatever it might be, because I know I want to make albums forever.
Mark Savage
Yeah, that's very cool. And I like. I like that you went away and thought about it and like, I read one interview where you said you'd literally done research, like went and read books and.
Arlo Parks
Yeah, I think I'm very studious just at heart. And, you know, I was reading a lot of books about architecture and even about cinematography and the way that certain films and certain scripts came together, just studying storytelling and spaces and people. And that's just where I feel most at home, like just buried in my books and just being meticulous. I just like working that way.
Mark Savage
Were you always a good student?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, I always was. It's true, it's true. I was always like, very.
Mark Savage
Did you keep your old school essays?
Arlo Parks
My God, I feel like my mum probably has them somewhere.
Mark Savage
Well, you see, I thought that. And she threw them out, so be careful.
Arlo Parks
Be careful. That's funny. I need to ask her. Maybe they are in the bin. Who knows?
Mark Savage
Have you got any ideas of what your next kind of obsession is going to be in terms of? I mean, I guess architecture is endless, really, isn't it? Once you start thinking about it?
Arlo Parks
Yeah, I don't know what it's going to be. I mean, I was reading this Roland Barthes article that he wrote in the late 70s about this club in Paris called Le Palais. Or something like that. And he was just saying that he didn't really have interest in spaces without people in them. And I think that's kind of how I feel about architecture. It's like I'm interested in spaces that bring people together and that build communities. And I'm also interested in kind of non normative or more like transient spaces, you know, like Manchester warehouse project vibe. Things that like appear and disappear and change. So something in that world.
Mark Savage
Yeah, it's cool. And I do think it's something that pop music in particular used to have. Like if you look at the 80s and bands like OMD and Human League, that they are all studying like sometimes academic texts and turning that into music. And then there's a point probably around Rave where everything just becomes a bit hedonistic and pop music takes its cue from that. But I love that you're doing this. And even the BTS album which came out today, like that's all rooted into. Yeah, it's actually really good, but like it's rooted in. They did a lot of deep diving back into Korean folk culture. And I mean, it's not particularly apparent in the music, but you can kind of hear that they're trying to connect the dots between. In the opening song in particular, it samples the first known recording of Korean Voices, which was made in America in 1896.
Arlo Parks
That's amazing. I love that. I love an artist like that group of artists, like probably the biggest, one of the biggest on the planet. Paying homage to something like that is really exciting. And even, you know, with the Harry Styles record and everything, I think people are becoming like, bring the studies back, bring the like nerdiness and the detail oriented people back to the front of pop music.
Mark Savage
That's true. What else is exciting you musically in
Arlo Parks
terms of like other artists that I'm loving. Yeah.
Mark Savage
Or other sounds.
Arlo Parks
Or other sounds. Well, I've been. I've definitely been in an exploratory phase again. I've been going to a lot of record shops as I've been traveling and collecting records that I haven't really heard of. And also just going back to writing, to be honest. I've been listening to a lot of ambient music and just writing again.
Mark Savage
Writing lyrics or writing.
Arlo Parks
It starts with just writing. It's either stream of consciousnesses or short essays or things that might be scenes in a film. It can be anything. But I'm just in my collector mode again, which I love.
Mark Savage
That's very cool. Is there a lyric on this album that you're particularly proud Of, Ooh.
Arlo Parks
Probably the lyric on Heaven where it's like, when I catch a glimpse of heaven, I know I can't take it with me. And maybe knowing that is closure. And that's that sense of, you know, when I feel at my most joyful or my most euphoric, and I feel like I've seen heaven for a moment, then there is this thing that happens straight after. I'm like, I wish I could feel that way for longer, or I wish I could feel that way forever, or this moment's gonna end. And I think almost accepting that these things are fleeting and that that's beautiful in itself is a kind of closure. And it's something that took me a long time to figure out and be able to embody.
Mark Savage
Yeah, that is beautiful. I'm glad you chose something positive. Cause the one that sticks out to me every time I listen to the album is my oldest. Pain became something you resent, which I. God, I recognize that feeling, but that's. That's devastating.
Arlo Parks
Yeah, definitely. And, I mean, that whole song in itself is, you know, a reflection on the idea that when you are with somebody, you are at your most vulnerable and your most hurt. And, you know, the parts of you that are the ones that you feel most ashamed of or the ugliest parts of you that we all have are kind of on display in these vulnerable moments. And then to have that not be held gently or to be made to feel bad about that is, like, the most crushing heartbreak, you know? But it was important for me to take that feeling and turn it into something that I could then share and that, you know, we could all sing together at shows and, like, find our own little version of healing, like, in community. Yeah.
Mark Savage
And I know it's a cliche, but knowing that somebody else has been through it generally genuinely helps people.
Arlo Parks
It really helps. Yeah, it really helps.
Mark Savage
Have you got a song that's done that for you?
Arlo Parks
Oh, that's a good question. I think there are so many. I'm trying to pinpoint one. I mean, I'm thinking of. I'm thinking of the song Twilight by Elliot Smith. And, like, I think it's weirdly that first line that really captures. Maybe it's the way that I see the world. Maybe it's how I feel, but haven't laughed this hard in a long time. I better stop now before I start crying. And that sense of the way that just being a highly sensitive person and the way that emotions kind of weave and intermesh, and I think there's something about his spirit, though, that I have always felt so connected to. It's such desperately sad music, but there's something really uplifting to me about it somehow.
Mark Savage
Yeah, I think a lot of people feel that connection with your music as well, though. I mean, I know people talked about Black Dog a lot when that came out and how that spoke to something they felt. But even, you know, the happier songs I feel express something universal and particularly on this record. And that's a real. That's. That's hard to do. That's to tap into the collective psyche.
Arlo Parks
It is difficult because. And you never really know if it is going to connect in that way because I think for me.
Mark Savage
And you can't write it.
Arlo Parks
No, you can't. No, you really can't. And I think that the songs that do connect the most universally are the ones that feel quite specific and about like one lived moment or experience that people are able to like put themselves into or have experienced a version of it. But it's rarely just about like sometimes we feel happy, sometimes we feel sad, you know, it's like not kind of universal in that way.
Mark Savage
What are you looking forward to the most with the Albumite tour coming up? A whole year of excitement around this music.
Arlo Parks
I think just like seeing the many lives that the album is gonna take, like these stories have been mine for so long and my favorite part is just sharing it and seeing how it. How it is in the world. You know, I. I weirdly can't believe that only me and a small pocket of people even heard it. So I think hearing people sing the words back at shows, being able to take on other creative projects as I go along, DJing more, bringing people together, just seeing how the album lives out there.
Mark Savage
This is a superb album. I listened to it twice on the way here. Cause I came from year old haunting ground in West London. It's been on, on the stereo all week. It sounds great on headphones, it sounds great on speakers, it sounds great in the car.
Arlo Parks
It's.
Mark Savage
You must be really pleased.
Arlo Parks
I feel really excited, you know, and I think just being able to have the time, you know, it's been almost like three years of labor. And just to really dial in the production and make sure that every song kind of has its place and feels essential to me and also in the context of the record, I'm just super excited.
Mark Savage
Thank you for listening to the interview. You'll find more in depth conversations on the interview wherever you get your BBC podcasts, including episodes with Artemis 2 astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the artist Tracy Emin, and Director Chloe Zhao. Until the next time. Goodbye for now.
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Mark Savage
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BBC World Service — April 19, 2026
Host: Mark Savage | Guest: Arlo Parks
In this episode, BBC music correspondent Mark Savage sits down with Mercury Prize-winning singer-songwriter Arlo Parks. Amid the release of her new album Ambiguous Desire and after a period away from the spotlight, Parks reflects on her creative process, personal growth, and her aspiration to make timeless, meaningful music. The conversation ranges from cooking and clubbing to the vulnerability in songwriting, offering listeners a personal look at one of the defining young voices in British music.
Creative pause and personal growth:
Quote:
Exploratory travel and its influence:
Desire for lasting impact:
Comfort with ebb and flow:
On writing about pain and joy:
Notable Lyrics:
Music as collective healing:
Universality through specificity:
On creative rejuvenation:
On midnight inspiration:
On music as healing:
On timelessness:
On fleeting joy:
Musical kindred spirits:
In her conversation with Mark Savage, Arlo Parks reveals an artist striving not just for acclaim, but for depth, honesty, and human connection—both in her personal life and in her musical craft. Ambiguous Desire emerges here not just as an album, but as the product of lived experience, curiosity, and a search for genuine belonging and timeless resonance.