Songfacts®:

• Even with a bunch of people around, house parties can still feel lonely as hell. But just seeing a familiar face in the crowd can make all the difference. On "Blades" Arlo Parks recalls bumping into a friend at a gathering whom she'd fallen out with.
• I'm exhausted watching like Claire Danes through the water
  Kitchen light like blades through your body
  The party's ablaze
  We grew apart when you were fighting with your sister
  
  Parks starts off the song with a nod to My So-Called Life. In the teen drama TV series, Claire Danes plays a teenager named Angela Chase who's always looking at the world as if she's outside of it. The lyric says the singer's feeling the same way - like she's watching the person she's singing about from a distance.
  
  The next line describes the intense physical and emotional sensation Parks is experiencing. The singer compares the harsh, bright light in the kitchen to the sharpness of blades, suggesting she is feeling overwhelmed.
• After seeing her long-lost friend across the room, Parks realizes she truly can't live without them, so she starts making her way over.
  
  And you're with Ahmed
  Plum red slacks and tequila fraser
  And you laugh the same
  Hand on mouth 'cause you hate your teeth
  And I love your teeth
  And I'm scared to speak
  'Cause I catch a whiff of your rosetip tea
  
  When Parks gets there, her friend is hanging with Ahmed, looking all sharp in plum red pants and sipping on their tequila drinks. But even though they're different, they still laugh the same, with a hand over their mouth to hide their teeth. She's kinda nervous to say anything 'cause she can smell the rose hip tea they're drinking and it's just so darn intimate.
  
  "I imagine this moment at a party where you see someone across the room that you haven't seen in a while, you felt yourself growing apart, and you're like, should I, should I not?" said Parks. "And then you find the courage to approach them."
• Parks wrote "Blades" with the song's producer, Paul Epworth. The English producer Epworth has worked with some of the biggest names in music, including Adele, Florence + the Machine, and Rihanna. He is known for his ability to create lush, atmospheric soundscapes that perfectly complement the vocals of his collaborators. Epworth previously produced the songs "Too Good" and "Portra 400" on Parks' debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams, and "Weightless," the lead single from My Soft Machine.
• Epworth cranked up the good vibes to a whole new level on this track. "Paul is just a wizard; he has this childlike spirit that I've always really loved and he brought that to 'Blades'," said Parks. "I wanted to make something that I can dance to, finally, because I feel like my songs don't really have that quality in general. So, I took inspiration from bands like ESG, artists like Kaytranada, and a lot of the kind of '70s Zambian psychedelic rock that I love."
• The Bedroom-directed video starts with Arlo Parks in a pensive moment atop the hills, gazing upon the sprawling expanse of Los Angeles. Suddenly, an enigmatic figure on a bike rolls up, and Parks eagerly joins them. Together, they go on a thrilling escapade through the city, effortlessly zipping past iconic landmarks and making surreal pit stops along the way.
  
  Parks wears a space helmet in homage to Radiohead's "No Surprises" visual where Thom Yorke's helmet gradually fills up with water. "That space helmet was really heavy, I was sweating!" Parks laughed to The Independent about the shoot. "We'd attached the big camera to the top to get those claustrophobic shots and all that weight was pressing down on my neck. But I've always loved the video for Radiohead's 'No Surprises' and I wanted to give a nod to that influence."
  
  Bedroom previously directed Parks' video for her Collapsed In Sunbeams track "Too Good."