Arlo Parks brings out The xx's Romy at 6 Music Festival

While closing out the festivities of 6 Music Festival – BBC Radio's annual travelling circus which landed in Manchester this year – 2021's Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks performed a career-spanning set which included some new music taken from her upcoming second album My Soft Machine.

The headline set at Manchester's 02 Victoria Warehouse included My Soft Machine's lead single "Weightless", as well as follow-up single "Impurities", which Parks explained is the first truly happy song that she's written, and is about "finding a community where you feel understood".

As well as playing another new song from her second album titled "Dog Rose", Parks brought out some special guests, including longtime friend Romy of The xx for "Black Dog". Romy recently featured on the latest episode of Parks' BBC 6 Music programme Dream Fuel.

setlist.fm also notes that Parks was joined by Tom Coll, the drummer of Fontaines DC – whose sound Parks says has inspired the upcoming album – to perform "Sophie" from her 2019 eponymous EP during the encore.

Following on from uploading her demos to BBC Introducing, Parks burst onto the scene with her debut single "Cola", and after playing their stage at Glastonbury in 2019, she's gone from strength to strength opening for the likes of Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.