November 2020 has brought yet another breath-taking release from 20-year-old singer-songwriter Arlo Parks, taken from her forthcoming debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams. The new single, ‘Caroline,’ tells the story of a breakup from the outside, a move from the deeply personal accounts that are characteristic of her songs.

Although the track is inspired by an encounter the artist witnessed herself, it is a combination of fact and fiction. Parks says this song is ‘about love dissolving and first losses,’ but there is still a lot left to the listener’s imagination, namely what happened before and after the melancholy music has faded in and out. There may only be so many gaps that the omniscient eye can fill in, but in the poetic descriptions used – ‘strawberry cheeks’ and ‘hints of sage’ – so much is said.

The picture of an ‘artsy couple’s’ tempestuous row is painted vividly, highlighting Parks’ gift for capturing raw emotions so large, in just a few words. You are taken on a journey, following a trail of destruction through the streets of London – a ‘spilled coffee,’ a ‘ripped hem,’ some ‘shards of glass’ – yet the soft vocals and gentle repetition of the refrain, ‘Caroline, I swear to god I tried,’ keep the listener safe, watching from above with the narrator themselves. The distance created through this role of the artist as storyteller, makes this song all the more bittersweet.

Unlike Parks’ release earlier this year, ‘Black Dog,’ which charts her personal turmoil in trying help a struggling friend, ‘Caroline’ can offer no such closeness. There is no comfort to be had in knowing the artist knows what happens after the beat stops, as she simply does not; the track is essentially without hope. The pleas and desperation of the unknown partner ‘screaming’ in the street do not fall on deaf ears, but they fall on the wrong ears – those of strangers. It is this almost third-person narrative that makes this track especially heart-breaking.

Parks has had an astonishing year. She has continued to reach new heights of her blossoming musical career whilst never losing inspiration, joining the collection of musicians – from Taylor Swift to Nick Cave – that have artistically thrived this year, despite its challenges. Alongside successive hit releases, she has launched an already sold-out 2021 tour and announced a new album; it seems that when the world stops, Arlo Parks does not.

‘Caroline’ is one of the best singles to have come from Parks yet. The simple concept captures a tragic energy, one that leaves the listener feeling connected to people they have never met, like friends of a friend. The songwriter has an incredible talent for storytelling, one that has been exhibited more than ever with this track. If she is not already on your radar, Arlo Parks is certainly one to keep an ear out for.

Rating: 8/10

Caroline is available now via Transgressive Records 

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