Arlo Parks
First Thought Fridays is a (mostly) weekly column offering quick-hit takes on some of the albums released this week, serving up first impressions, favorite or least favorite songs, and whether or not they’re worth a second listen. Check back for more each Friday night or Saturday morning.
In my last column, I mentioned the whopping 11 new releases from March 27th that I had loaded up in the review queue. Well, I ended up bumping the number up to 12 in the process, and managed to charge through all of them. Courtney Barnett’s new one blew me away, but then the New Pornographers and Snail Mail both sent me down discography deep dive rabbit holes and…well, I think I kind of overloaded my brain a little bit. When yet another Friday rolled around today, I was faced with either diving back through 12 albums or forging ahead to check out yet more new stuff. I ended up choosing the latter. I hope to dive back into the March 27th releases in the coming days because, man, there is some great stuff in there, including a few mostly unknown artists worthy of spotlighting. But then again, we’re a quarter of the way through the year and I’ve already reviewed 50 new albums in 2026…I’m bound to miss stuff sometimes.
Anyway! I’m finally back on the normal schedule of reviewing brand new stuff that just came out today. This week’s lineup includes a pleasantly surprising album I picked more-or-less at random from the “List of 2026 Albums” Wikipedia page (Ber) and the very first social media request for coverage (shoutout to Adam J Ostermann for steering me toward the new Joe Pernice on Threads!). Here’s what I listened to this week, in the order in which I listened to ‘em:
Arlo Parks, Ambiguous Desire (Transgressive Records): Arlo Parks’ 2023 sophomore album My Soft Machine was my #1 album of 2023, so naturally I was counting down the days until the release of this follow-up. I’m not quite ready to declare it that album’s equal after two spins, but it’s pretty dang close.
Parks’ music is fascinatingly contradictory: all of the individual elements—the trip-hop beats, the icy synths, the almost emotionless vocals—read as “cold,” yet when blended together, the songs have so much warmth. A big part of that is Parks’ voice, a sort of breathy coo of a voice that is inviting and almost sultry whether she’s singing about infatuation or heartbreak or anything in between. Though that sonic throughline continues from the previous album, Ambiguous Desire has its own spin on it, working in more organic instruments alongside synths as plush and cool as the underside of a fresh pillow, giving some songs a sort of Sade-style flavoring. It’s just a great sounding album, and while that sonic template doesn’t draw a ton of attention to the lyrics, I’ve already caught a few impressively profound twists of phrase. This is an album I’m looking forward to spending more time with. Favorite songs so far: the confessional dark night of the soul “Senses” (featuring a cameo by fellow British indie soul singer Sampha), the brittle ballad “Nightswimming,” and the pulsing single “2SIDED.” Will I Listen Again?: Absolutely.
U2, Easter Lily EP (Island): After nearly 9 years since their last album of new material, plenty of people were expecting U2 to drop a new album sooner or later, but few expected them to surprise-drop not one but two teaser EPs just a few weeks apart. The second one, Easter Lily, appeared today—don’t worry, just on streaming services, not an automatic download in your iTunes—and like its predecessor Days of Ash, it’s pretty darn good.
It’s fantastic having drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. back in fighting shape after his 2023 neck surgery, and the best songs here are the ones that lean the heaviest on the rhythm section, the War-like “Scars” and Adam Clayton’s snaking bass line on “Easter Parade” in particular. Both the latter and “Resurrection Song” also highlight The Edge, whose chiming, delay-laden guitars glisten like his “Where the Streets Have No Name” peak. Bono continues to have the most yearning voice in rock; he gets a little weird with it on the autotune gospel track “COEXIST (I Will Bless the Lord at All Times),” the only song here that didn’t work for me. This isn’t quite U2 at its peak, but they sound dialed-in and engaged in a way they haven’t in a long time. If you’re already a fan, you’ll definitely dig this. Will I Listen Again?: Probably.
Angine de Poitrine, Vol. II (self-released): I first heard Angine de Poitrine on Sirius XMU about a month ago, with the DJ, Josiah, talking about them as if I was supposed to already know who they were. I most decidedly did not, but hearing the angular guitar freakout that burst out of my car’s speakers, I was definitely interested in learning more. Then all of a sudden the band seemed to be everywhere.
I’m not sure what planet these guys beamed down from (Wikipedia tells me it is the planet Saguenay from the Quebec galaxy?), but I’m glad they made the interstellar voyage. If you know Angine de Poitrine, chances are it’s because of their viral videos (like this KEXP performance), where the anonymous duo (who go by the names Khn and Klek de Poitrine) perform in outlandish black-and-white polka-dotted costumes with oversized masks featuring even more oversized noses dangling and bouncing and gyrating along with the music. The pair make their largely instrumental music using only a drum kit, the occasional yelped vocal, a two-necked behemoth of an instrument that features both a bass and a microtonal guitar, and a loop pedal. The latter allows Khn to build surreal soundscapes over Klek’s lightning-fast drumming, adding speed-funk bass and math rock noodling topped with bursts of appealingly scuzzy garage rock leads. of Montreal (who, despite the name, do not actually hail from the Quebec galaxy) are the closest terrestrial analogue to this band’s truly otherworldly vibe.
The band pulls off an amazing balancing act: the songs are relentlessly fast, ridiculously complicated, completely lack traditional verse-chorus-verse structure, and almost all stretch on for over six minutes apiece. And yet, they’re all amazing. One of the wildest and most refreshing releases of the year so far. Best songs: funky opener/single “Fabienk” and “Utzp,” which has an almost polka-ish bounce to it that makes it sound like the soundtrack to the universe’s most terrifying circus. Will I Listen Again?: Definitely.
Ber, Good, Like It Should Be (Nettwerk): Following three EPs released over the last five years, Walker, Minnesota native Berit Dybing’s full-length debut proves to be an ear-pleasing blend of modern pop sensibilities and traditional singer-songwriter sincerity. The album starts with a strong 1-2-3 punch: “Good, Real” opens the festivities with a bouncy, ‘80s-inspired energy straight out of the Haim songbook, “Cool, Boy” rides a jaunty, jazzy piano groove with nice, subtle saxophone, and “Who’s This?” (or, more accurately per the lyrics, “who’s this bitch?”, who might just be the face in the mirror) is an Olivia Rodrigo-ish acoustic pop nugget. After that varied album opening, Dybing settles into her acoustic guitar for the album’s strummy middle section, with songs like “Book Cover” and “Give It All Away” betraying a heavy Taylor Swift influence. Overall, quite an impressive first album. Will I Listen Again?: Yes.
Joe Pernice, Sunny, I Was Wrong (New West): Joe Pernice has been making music, both solo and in bands like the Pernice Brothers, for over 30 years, but I’m pretty sure this is the first full album of his I’ve heard, or at least the first in a very long time. It’s an album of pleasant, peaceful vibes centered around Pernice’s gentle acoustic guitar strum and unaffected tenor vocals with accents of piano or organ that support but never draw away the focus. It’s not an attention-grabbing record, but it’s got the same unassuming appeal as the solo work of ex-Jayhawk Mark Olson, with the kind of pleasant, sunny vibes that are well-suited for the early Spring weather in Missouri. Best songs: “If You Go Back to California,” “The Black and the Blue,” “Twenty-Thousand Times.” Will I Listen Again?: Probably. | Jason Green
