Arlo Parks, a British singer-songwriter, has released a brand new single. “Softly” — an intimate, emotional song detailing the disintegration of a relationship. The standalone track’s release is accompanied by a music video, directed by Zhang and Knight.
“‘Softly’ is a song about yearning, about how fragile you feel in the dying days of a relationship when you’re still desperately in love,”In a statement, the Grammy-nominated artist explained. “The song is about how it feels to brace yourself before the blow of a break up and reminisce about the days where it all felt luminous.”
Parks can be seen walking through a surreal cityscape as it slowly unravels.
“For us ‘Softly’ explored the idea of wanting something that was once perfect to end in a gentle way, and we wanted to express this using the world surrounding Arlo,”Zhang and Knight spoke. “We were instinctively drawn to the warm toned, hazy nostalgia of the 1960s, as we loved the idea of something universally romantic being slowly stripped away throughout the film.”
“Softly” follows Parks’ 2021 debut album Sunbeams collapsingThis record arrived via Transgressive Records last year. The record is up for Best Alternative Music Album at this year’s Grammy Awards, where Parks is also nominated for Best New Artist.
Parks will begin a North American tour with Clairo on February 16, in Charlotte, N.C. The trek will end with Coachella performances. Parks will join Harry Styles in Dublin for his show on June 22.