Kategorie: safe choices

Contemplating, thinking, sorting oneself out:  mental processes full of sorrows and nerve-wrecking thoughts are put down on paper and into melodies by the singer Arlo Parks: the result sounds somehow therapeutic –  distancing herself from these difficult feelings. I see it as a pretty brave act to be as frank as Arlo Parks in her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams, sharing her inner voice and thoughts to the outer world. Her music avoids any specific genre classification, but her focus is best described in lying in between Spoken-Word, schemes of Hip-Hop, Soul, Emo and some electronic elements.

Already in her early 20s Parks had to cope with some big setbacks: the experience of not being able to fit into this world to the extent of feeling like the only one stuck with those problems. These supposedly weaknesses of her identity- being an outsider at school, living in London with a migration background and coming out as bisexual, having to suffer from depression- are all addressed in her songs. A lot to take in for anyone who already has to get through “normal” issues during adolescence.

As intimate as her lyrics is the way she produces her music: Having started writing at an early age of 13, she also taught herself how to play the guitar. During lockdowns in 2020/21 she then started recording songs in her bedroom, which resulted in this piece of music.

As accurate as Arlo Parks describes her inner self, she also seems to attentively observe her environment and the conflicts of her generation, the “Generation Z”, the “Generation of anxiety” and its’ tendency to face a lot of mental health issues: Hurt describes a boy having to cope with an addiction; Black Dog is an analogy for depression: “It’s so cruel/ What your mind can do for no reason/ I take a jump off the fire escape/ To make the black dog go away/ At least I know that you are trying/ But that’s what makes it terrifying.”

 I have read somewhere that her music sounds monotonous! Yes, I agree, but definitely not in a negative way. Therefore her music and the topics she brings up will get transmitted so perfectly. Her soothing and tender way of singing sounds really like her voice is wrapped in cotton wool, creating something between a dreamy but also indolent mood, underlining severe and devouring topics of a generation who might need some more easiness in their lives. By being so open and intimate she creates a sense of community to those who might have similar obstacles to defeat, which is exactly what lost, anxious and depressed one’s need: support, comfort, a sense of belonging and ways how to get out of a crisis.

Two further tracks that will defenitely get stuck in your head:

UK-Rap made with a strong, sentimental and fragile narrative – this is the Rapper Loyle Carner (born as Benjamin Coyle-Larner) who created a wonderfully soothing and dreamful record in April 2019.

The album Not Waving, But Drowning, which is named after a poem by the British writer Stevie Smith, is nurtured like a letter, addressed to his mother Jean. In it he ensures his love for her, regardless of his decision to leave home, detaching himself and moving in together with his girlfriend. The importance of his relationship to his mother is laid out within the whole album, as she can be heard the recordings, reading out Loyle’s self-written poems, that appear throughout the LP. Besides the confessions to his mother, he discusses the relationship to his girlfriend, the importance of a long-lasting friendship (shown in the song Krispy) and the loss of his father.

The LP includes a collaborated track Angels with his mate Tom Misch and features by the emerging British singer Jorja Smith and Sampha. A track, that stayed with me for a long time, was Still; it is lively and dreamy at the same time but also contains Loyle’s light sentimentality, singing about the unchanged worries he still faces having to learn how to cope with them. Looking back is a great example of Loyle’s easiness to rap, which seems to come to him without any additional effort.

The album concludes with the track Dear Ben, a letter written by his mother addressed to Loyle. In the letter she responds to his thoughts which he expressed throughout the past 14 tracks. With her thoughtful words it seems like she wants to take Loyle’s worries. She also refers to his letter from the begging of the record and confesses her motherly love as well, which rounds up the album very well.

Born and raised in South London, Loyle Carner studied at the famous Brit School and afterwards started an acting degree at the Drama Centre in London. However, he soon dropped out of his studies due to his father’s sudden death in epilepsy, which ultimately made him decide to focus on music. His musical development is not only marked by the loss of his father, but also by a diagnosis with ADHS. Carner views the medical disorder as his “super power”. Without it he could not have gone this path he embarked on. ADHS has helped him to transform his energy into something positive – into music to be exact.

Rapping about personal references and showing fragility publicly, he presents himself a lot different in comparison to most rappers. According to Loyle Carner, his music has some therapeutic effect on him, thereby coming to terms with certain events.

The value of family backing and love forms the foundation of his lyrics. Its intimacy and significance of familyhood does not only appear lyrically. What is more that Carner’s own musical influence is due to the unique musicality being cultivated in the family, having spent a lot of time together listening to music.

Other than the impact his family makes on his music, he claims to be most influenced by American Hip-Hop and Grime Music. Poetically he got most of his inspiration of the American poet Langston Hughes and the British writer Benjamin Zephaniah. Combing his “spoken-word”-singing with his wistful and sentimental way of rapping to discreet boom-bap beats, he creates an exceptional souly character.