Five on it: we’re ready for Arlo Parks to soar

Arlo Parks photography by Charlie Cummings

Autumn is here (“thotumn”, I am told), and we know that means. Orange crunchy leaves; sunshine and kind of humid storms that are probably troublingly out of sync for the time of year; Halloween, Brexit and stockpiling anxiety all looming on the horizon.

But – as I think I have said in a load of these weird five on it intros – when things are feeling precarious in life, music is a comfort. And so it is we get to this week’s round-up, full of soft songs that were far too hard to choose (there’s so much great music coming out!) – here’s hoping you enjoy.

Arlo Parks – ‘Second Guessing’

There are few artists who could even think to write such delicate tracks with lyrics about eating parma violets on the way back from therapy. We have a lot of love for this emerging London artist with her silken voice and powerful, poetic verse – she makes kind of soft, acoustic pop emo, and it’s gorgeous. We are so ready to see her soar.

Abimaro – ‘Because She Knows’

Plush keys make this sound old school and cinematic, but Londoner Abimaro is coming through now with her quietly rich instrumentation and soulful, smooth vocals. This is plaintive, understated and really lovely.

Young M.A. – Herstory in the Making

The debut album from the freestyle don is here, and it was worth the wait. The East Coast rapper has been buzzed about for some time, and she proves why with this impressive collection of hype tunes and more introspective tracks. [Listen to the full album here]

Dameer – ‘Sun’

Lush and breezy, this teenager from Bangladesh is part of an emerging bedroom pop scene in South Asia (though he’s signed to Berlin-based Majestic, which I still associate with those “deep house” vids with women in bikinis, but I digress). This is real nice, and probably one to make the most of when the sun and blue skies creep out through the increasingly dark clouds.

Vegyn ft. JPEGMAFIA – ‘Nauseous / Devilish’

I’ll admit JPEGMAFIA’s been getting a fair few shout outs lately, but that’s only because he’s been consistently killing it this past month. Anyway he’s rapping over a typically cosmic, glimmering Vegyn beat, and this merits a place here because if you don’t know Vegyn yet you should get to know. He’s the UK producer whose beautiful work featured on Blonde and Endless and has co-hosted Frank’s Blonded radio show (!), and he’s putting out his debut album later this year.

You can follow the Five on it playlist on Spotify: