Indie singer and songwriter Arlo Parks released a deluxe version of her sophomore album, “My Soft Machine,” on Dec. 8. 

In addition to the tracklist of “My Soft Machine,” the expanded “My Soft Machine (Deluxe)” features six additional tracks, ranging from covers of Jai Paul’s “Jasmine” and Tirzah’s “Holding On”  to acoustic renditions such as “Devotion (Acoustic)” and “Pegasus (Acoustic)” along with collaborations like “I’m Sorry (ft. Lous and The Yakuza)” and “Blades (ft. redveil).” 

The introductory track, “Bruiseless,” sets a diaristic tone for the album that Parks excels at. 

“I wish I was bruiseless,” she says in the album’s opening line. “Almost everyone that I love has been abused, and I am included.”

The song touches on the complicated process of acknowledging trauma. A lingering pain underlines the imagery of a childhood bicycle ride as Parks grapples with the irretrievable innocence of her youth. 

“I just wish I was seven and blameless/ Going over the handlebars,” she ruminates. “I just wish that my eyes were still wide.”

“Impurities” reads like a love letter to the feeling of belonging, offering an antidotal contrast to the private struggle of “Bruiseless.” Parks details the deep comfort of being amongst the people who accept you.

In the generally smooth dream-pop production of the album, “Devotion” introduces a more uneven ’90s rock sound. A fervid electric guitar takes the forefront in the chorus, aligning with the emotional intensity of Parks’ love. 

“Blades” stands out thematically and melodically. Parks draws on a flurry of intimate snapshots from an estranged relationship, delivering these moments with a poignant longing that cuts deep.

For those familiar with Parks’s first album “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” “Purple Phase” appears as a moodier sister to one of its tracks, “Black Dog,” which tackles mental illness and friendship.

“It’s just a purple phase,” Parks repeats — seemingly to herself — as she grapples with the agonizing experience of not knowing how to help a loved one who is struggling. 

Parks’s sensitivity is both a flaw and a strength in her relationships. Songs like “Weightless” and “Dog Rose” are a difficult listen, as Parks’s immense capacity for love surpasses that of the person she desires to reciprocate it. 

Still, her ability to capture romance at its most profound level shines in “Pegasus (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)” where her love thrives instead of recoils from rejection.

The song dares to be hopeful on an album filled with experiences that might cause one to be otherwise — see the grim realizations of “Puppy.” 

Parks is at her most vulnerable and confessional here.

“I’ll tell you the truth/ Being with someone always made me feel used,” Parks sings with support from Bridgers. “Then it would make me angry/ ’Cause I need love like a body needs sugar, I need love.”

Alternatively, “I’m Sorry” sees Parks closed off and turned away, reflecting the sad irony of craving connection while remaining guarded.

The penultimate track, “Room (Red Wings),” contains one of the album’s most relatable lines.

“Now I just wanna eat cake in a room with a view,” Parks sings, drained by a frustrating one-sided relationship that binds her.

“Ghost” concludes the first part of “My Soft Machine (Deluxe),” as Parks articulates a final desire — to trust someone deeply enough to “melt right into” them. 

Yet, as the previous tracks on the album suggest, it’s not that simple.

“I’m scared if I tell you, you’ll think of me as weak/ I don’t wanna be that friend who’s always in pain/ So I bottle it up, it hurts when I do it,” Parks sings. 

The second part of “My Soft Machine (Deluxe)” further unfolds its complexity.

Here, Parks weaves the individual perspectives of Paul, Tirzah, Lous and The Yakuza and redveil in such a way that compounds and enhances the universality of the album’s themes.

Parks’s renditions of “Jasmine” and “Holding On” maintain the essence of Jai Paul and Tirzah’s respective visions while seamlessly blending them into the fabric of the album. 

“I’m Sorry (ft. Lous and The Yakuza)” takes on a bilingual expression, with Lous and The Yakuza’s verses in French.

In “Blades (ft. redveil),” redveil’s delivery reinforces the conviction with which Parks desires commitment and connection from the one that she loves. 

The stripped-down instrumentals of the acoustic versions, “Devotion (Acoustic)” and “Pegasus (Acoustic)” showcase Parks’s honeyed voice and intricate lyricism. 

“The core concept of the project is that this is reality and memory through my eyes, experienced within this body,” Parks said in an interview with Apple Music. “This is about my life.”

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