TN:183 Arlo Parks & Baird

John is joined by Arlo Parks and Baird to talk about how they wrote, recorded and produced the album ‘Ambiguous Desire’. Arlo Parks is an indie-pop singer-songwriter from West London. After uploading demos to BBC Introducing as a teenager, she quickly attracted industry attention. Her debut album, ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’, arrived in 2021, establishing Arlo as one of the defining artists of her generation and earning her the Mercury Prize and two Grammy nominations. Arlo’s third record, the more electronic-focused ‘Ambiguous Desire', was released in April 2026, co-written and produced by Baird, along with additional collaborators Paul Epworth and Sampha. Sitting down at Strongroom Studios in London, with Baird joining online, Arlo and Baird discuss the “runaway train” of their symbiotic creative process and how they recreated the feel of the club and dancefloor through the record’s distinctive grooves. They share never previously heard freestyles, demos and vocal tracking secrets from the studio, and they answer questions from our Patreon community! Tracks discussed: Senses, Jetta, Heaven LISTEN to Ambiguous Desire: Ambiguous Desire by Arlo Parks, Transgressive Records TAPE IT Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast. Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 20% off. Try the new Tape It Denoiser currently 50% off! TRINITY LABAN Find out more about Trinity Laban’s new MA in Songwriting. MUSIVERSAL Skip the waitlist and get your discount HERE Recorded at Platoon Studios LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES linktr.ee/tapenotes Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective GEAR MENTIONS Soundtoys Microshift Electro Harmonix Pitch Fork Polyphonic Pitch Shifter Pedal Shure SM7B Melda MAuto Pitch Boss DS-1 Pedal Bassment Plugin Squier Jazz Bass Spitfire Audio Labs Roland Juno 106 Ibanez Electro Acoustic Nylon Guitar Krumar Keyboard Logic Distortion Ableton Live OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can join us on Patreon, where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns. KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on: Instagram: @tapenotes YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes Patreon: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear! Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices