British singer Arlo Parks found herself in front of a packed Beanfield Theatre (formerly Corona) last night.
Montreal is discovering Arlo Parks on stage. 23 years old, fragile, sometimes melancholy, always touching, festive, and rocking when—at the end of the show—she hangs her guitar around her neck and jams with contagious pleasure with the excellent trio that accompanies her, carried by the precise, irresistible groove of her rhythm section.
When she performs “Cola,” the song that revealed her in 2018, the Beanfield becomes a choir and intones: I loved you to death and now I don’t really care.
Parks grew up in London, but her Nigerian and Chadian roots also cut a deep furrow on the French side, her mother being a Parisian. The richness of her origins and influences explains the depth of her creation. Some might try to classify her as indie-pop or neo-soul, but her palette is much broader; she discovered King Krule at the age of 13 and is inspired by Hendrix, Bowie, and Sufjan Stevens. In the course of the show, she gives a passing salute to Radiohead – the filiation is obvious.
As a poet, she explores the wounds of childhood and broken love. And the dangers of vulnerability; in “Devotion,” we tremble as she sings against a sharp guitar backdrop: “Your eyes destroying me, I’m wide open, all yours baby, flood me with your nervous love”. Sentimental misunderstandings are also on the agenda, as you may know from “Eugene.” No? Remedy that quickly.
Parks is moved by this first sold-out concert in America, so it’s no surprise that this stop on the Soft Machine American Tour is the beginning of a love affair between her and MTL. It wouldn’t be the first time that music lovers here have forged a deep and lasting relationship with innovative British artists.
Preceded in the first half by an outspoken Chloé George, irresistible and inspired, Arlo Parks delivers a 75-minute performance that leaves us moved. Does her poetry take us away from the heaviness of the times? So close, in fact, that all we can see and feel is profound humanity. We leave the Corona light.
