‘I’d wander through the park all angsty listening to Arctic Monkeys’: Arlo Parks’ honest playlist

Arlo Parks … ‘I love Janet Jackson’s voice – it softens people.’ Photograph:

The first song I fell in love with
I remember listening to Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics when I was really young. There was something about the line at the beginning that I was completely intoxicated by.

The first download I bought
When I was about 10 or 11, I would put my headphones on and wander through the park all angsty listening to Fake Tales of San Francisco by Arctic Monkeys, my first download on my iPod Nano. I loved the storytelling, the characters and the gritty tableaux they described: it felt so real, even though it was far away from where I grew up.