In a world of crush and hookup culture, there comes desire and a desperate yearn for that simple touch of that one specific person that lights you up. Arlo Parks’ song, “2Sided,” holds tension and heat that bears a longing to feel and be seen. A feeling that most of us are familiar with. A half-drunken tension and desire build in this track that make it relentlessly pop from the beginning, with a synth and a heartbeat to wash over your ears and the first line sliding as: 

“I’ve been waiting for this moment all night/

Yeah, I only made it out for you.”

“2SIDED” emulates that tricky feeling of the push and pull of locking eyes with that mosaic of a person in the club, but the unknown and unawareness of if that “wanting” is likewise. The scene of nightlife is a youthful splash of fun, and that splash is exactly what this track brings to the table. A momentous dance-pop sensation that leaves you feeling the beat in your soul as well as the ache and questioning of a risky, unsent text on a night out. 

Parks takes us through a rollercoaster of emotions with this tune. Hitting on the many emotions a night out can bring by being melodramatic while tangling into the sadness and out of place-ness in the middle of the dancefloor. Arlo Parks is publicly a queer musician, and to me as a queer person, “2Sided” echoes queer experience and longing that I just can’t shake in the best way. For queer individuals, it is even more common than not to fall for someone and for it not to be requited, so this vibrant track rings of a desire like no other.

Parks has continuously throughout her career had poetic, gentle lyrics that have recognized themes of vulnerability, mental health, unrequited love, the complexities of growing up and so much more. “2Sided” is a single that came out on Jan. 13, with the well-anticipated third album to come out in April. 

“My head is so clouded/

T-tell me it’s two-sided.”