by      

Alexandra Waespi

Arlo Parks is back, and she's kicking off a new chapter with her new single "Weightless."

The glossy new track, which is our latest Big Obsession pick, is the first preview of her sophomore record, titled My Soft Machine, which is coming May 26 on Transgressive Records. The song has an accompanying video directed by Marc Oller.

"'Weightless' surrounds the painful experience of caring deeply about someone who only gives you tiny breadcrumbs of affection. It’s about suddenly realising that a person has dulled your edges and embarking on the slow journey back to being a brighter version of yourself."

Parks is coming off a big year following her 2021 debut Collapsed in Sunbeams, including dates opening for the likes of Harry Styles, Billie Eilish and Florence + The Machine.

Of her new album, the singer says: "The world/our view of it is peppered by the biggest things we experience—our traumas, upbringing, vulnerabilities almost like visual snow. This record is life through my lens, through my body—the mid-20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity—what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body."

She continues: "There is a quote from a Joanna Hogg film called The Souvenir; it’s an A24 semi-autobiographical film with Tilda Swinton. It recounts a young film student falling in love with an older, charismatic man, then being drawn into his addiction. In an early scene, he’s explaining why people watch films: 'We don’t want to see life as it is played out; we want to see life as it is experienced in this soft machine.' So there we have it... My Soft Machine."

Watch the video for "Weightless" now.