Arlo Parks’ new single was inspired by Madonna.
The 21-year-old singer admits that her break-up song ‘Softly’ was inspired by a number of different artists, including Madonna.
Asked about the influences behind the song, she shared: “There was Mazzy Star, but there was also Objekt, that techno DJ. There was a bit of Madonna. There was a bit of MF Doom.
“Literally, it’s always all over the place and everyone’s like, ‘Wait, what?’ And Jai Paul as well. Jai Paul’s a big influence.”
The ‘Too Good’ hitmaker – who received critical acclaim for her 2021 album ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ – also revealed that her track ‘Black Dog’ was inspired by the “inner turmoil” she felt when she witnessed a close friend struggle with her mental health.
She told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1: “It was one of my closest friends [who inspired ‘Black Dog’] and we’re still best friends now. And we met at school when we were like 13 in Spanish class, and she was just in this really kind of deep pit in terms of her mental health. And there was this real sense of helplessness.
“I think it’s that, where it’s like you would do anything to either take that pain onto yourself or try and solve things, but it’s in the hook. Sometimes it is for no reason. Sometimes it’s not like, ‘Okay, what is causing this? Can we solve this? Can we have this conversation? Do you need water? Do you need food? Do you want to go to this place?’
“But sometimes even trying to address those elements, it’s just like an inner turmoil.”