ARLO PARKS.
as there ever been an artist that has summed up the confused and dysfunctional British teen experience as perfectly as Arlo Parks? Sure, television series Skins did a pretty great job - although they dramatized it a bit too much with fan-favourite characters being bludgeoned to death with baseball bats, trampled by buses and all that. But with lyrics such as, “When did we get so skinny? / Start doing ketamine on the weekends / Getting wasted at the station / Trying to keep our friends from death,” Arlo has become the go-to voice of a new generation of anxiety-ridden teens who will never be able to afford a house (in London, anyway), have grown up in a more inclusive society thanks to same-sex marriage and a Black president, and learn more about politics, sex and tax on their iPhone X’s than they do in school. “The people who listen to my music are naturally emotional and sensitive,” Arlo tells us over the phone, knackered but optimistic after playing her last (sold-out!) show
