Arlo Parks Announces Third Album 'Ambiguous Desire' and Lead Single '2SIDED'

Arlo Parks, the two-time Grammy-nominated British artist known for her introspective indie pop and open discussions of queer experiences, announced her third studio album, Ambiguous Desire, on January 13, 2026. The album follows her 2023 release My Soft Machine and is scheduled for April 3, 2026, via Transgressive Records.

Alongside the announcement, Parks released the lead single '2SIDED, 'a track exploring yearning and tension. Parks stated, "At its core ‘2SIDED’ is about yearning and tension. It’s about being struck by a bolt of desire and building up the courage to put language to that feeling, to make it real." The song is accompanied by an official music video directed by Molly Burdett, featuring Parks in an intimate, dimly lit club setting with dancers, and includes a warning for photosensitive epilepsy.

Ambiguous Desire comprises 12 tracks, including 'Blue Disco, ' 'Jetta, ' 'Get Go, ' 'Senses ft. Sampha, ' 'Heaven, ' 'Beams, ' 'South Seconds, ' 'Nightswimming, ' '2SIDED, ' 'Luck Of Life, ' 'What If I Say It? ,'and 'Floette.' The album was produced alongside Baird, known for work with Brockhampton, and draws inspiration from nightlife scenes, including influences like The Streets, Burial, LCD Soundsystem, and Theo Parrish.

In a statement, Parks shared the creative process: “I danced more than ever as I made this record, I made more friends than ever too, found myself in the weird underbelly of New York juke nights, unleashed, laughed and laughed and laughed. This record has desire at its center. Desire is a life force, it’s a wanting, a yearning, a momentum – we are all alive because there is something or someone we want – desire is an engine. But it is also mysterious, tangled, random, enlightening and HUMAN. ” This theme of desire resonates within LGBTQ+ communities, where Parks'work often affirms queer joy and emotional authenticity, building on her previous explorations of identity and relationships in albums like Collapsed In Sunbeams and My Soft Machine.

To celebrate the release, Parks announced intimate UK shows in partnership with independent record stores, starting April 2, 2026, in London at Rough Trade x Fabric, followed by Leeds at Crash x Wardrobe on April 4, Nottingham at Rough Trade x Rescue Rooms on April 6, London at Banquet x Circuit on April 8, Brighton at Resident x CHALK on April 9, Oxford at Truck x O2 Academy on April 11, and Southampton at Vinilo x The 1865 on April 12. Pre-orders are available via platforms like Apple Music and Bandcamp.

Parks, who has cited influences from Radiohead to Solange, continues to blend poetic lyrics with ruminative indie pop, fostering spaces for transgender people, queer individuals, and others in the LGBTQ+ community to see their desires reflected in mainstream music. The announcement has been covered across music outlets, highlighting her evolution toward a "bouncier, more fun side." As a bisexual artist whose work affirms diverse sexualities, Parks'focus on desire as a "life force"underscores its universal yet personal role in queer narratives.