Arlo Day announces debut EP on Domino

Arlo Day announces debut EP on Domino

Arlo Day is the moniker of Alice Barlow, a young songwriter and guitarist from South-East London whose unique ear for melody, haunting vocals and rumbling guitar tones have gained a quiet reputation as one of the capital’s best kept secrets. Newly-signed to Domino, Arlo Day has today revealed her debut single ‘Bad Timing’ and its emotive video. ‘Bad Timing’ is the lead single and title track taken from her first EP - due out 31 May on Domino. The EP is available to pre-order here. Arlo Day will celebrate the record’s release with a special EP launch show at Bermondsey Social Club on 6 June with a full band. Tickets are available here.

Speaking about the process around writing ‘Bad Timing’, Barlow said: “I recorded ‘Bad Timing’ at home last summer, it was a song I wrote after a break up when many things in my life seemed out of sync. I was aiming to capture the feeling of loss and how hindsight can really do a number on you sometimes.” Having cut her teeth in the same burgeoning scene that gave rise to artists like King Krule, Jerkcurb and Puma Blue as well as touring with bands like Whitney - ‘Bad Timing’ displays a first taste of Barlow’s carefully honed, distinctive songcraft: timeless and truly her own.

Stream 'Bad Timing' here

The video for ‘Bad Timing’ came together during the cold winter months of 2018 with Barlow collaborating alongside friends Holly Taylor, Elena Isolini and Esther Collins. The visuals were shot in the friends’ houses and all around South London. Barlow adds: ‘Like the song, the video is based around the disparity of time and hindsight, and how moments of the past can replay in your mind. We were inspired by photographs by Duane Michals and Katrien de Blauwer, and Lynne Ramsay’s short film Gasman.’

Self-produced and recorded at home, the Bad Timing EP is a trio of tracks that showcase her deft ability to write songs that are at once personal vignettes and brooding canvases for introspection. Lyrics like “What is it that I need to feel satisfied  / your love makes me feel terrified” glisten on the EP’s title track, floating above a bed of swirling guitars perfectly counterbalanced by a rhythm section that combine to spell-binding effect. ‘I guess we’ll call it bad timing, or say it’s lesson learning’ follows, delivering the sentiment with a sharp focus. It’s the kind of heady dynamic that clearly comes naturally to Arlo Day; beautiful turns of phrase are delivered atop instrumentation with nothing extraneous, while well placed sonic flourishes create stunning moments of tension and release  - together, they create something effortless and enticing. Bad Timing introduces Arlo Day as a singular and exciting new songwriting talent.

See Arlo Day on tour in 2019:
6 Jun | Bad Timing EP launch - Bermondsey Social Club, London

15 - 19 Aug | Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons

18 - 21 Jul | Latitude Festival, Suffolk

EP tracklisting: 

1. Bad Timing

2. This Love

3. Broke

Arlo Day - Bad Timing EP - out 31/05/2019 via Domino