Music Critic Sopfiya Povoas reviews Suki Waterhouse’s newest album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin
‘Model, Actress, Whatever’ is Waterhouse’s proclamation of how others saw her through her public life, but she is back again, even more whimsical, dreamy and flirty to defy these whisperings. Addressing her past, present and future, feelings both fleeting and ferociously complicated, her new album aims higher than she ever has before. On the face, she gives us an album that seems almost carefree, and effortlessly cool, but underneath she addresses some of her greatest cynicism, insecurities, and introspective thoughts.
The past couple of years have unveiled her to greater numbers through her character as ‘Karen’ in ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ and this summer performing at Wembley Stadium as a support for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour. She is rising through the ranks, but still remains small enough to still be your industry secret or your favourite indie artist.
Her second album, following a number of singles and EPs in her music career, offers something slightly different. Sonically it resembles a mix between Stevie Nicks, Lana Del Rey and Wolf Alice, while still remaining distinctly unique, and the sadness of songs such as ‘Model Actress Whatever’ and ‘To Love’ resemble some of her earlier work.
What Suki Waterhouse will always do well is that she is unapologetically herself, and this can be seen in her album rollouts and the record itself
What Suki Waterhouse will always do well is that she is unapologetically herself, and this can be seen in her album rollouts and the record itself. She is not afraid to put out a mix of deeply thought-out lyrics, but also songs with more repetitive lyrics where sonically she has greatly experimented. Uniquely her career has consisted of modelling, influencing, acting and singing, which enables a kind of reflection not seen in many other artists’ music.
In ‘Model, Actress, Whatever’, as seen in the music video, Waterhouse addresses her reputation and how receiving what she dreamt of did not prevent her being humbled by the world. This is something she explores with beautiful imagery and her wistful but melancholy tone seen in earlier singles such as ‘Good Looking’. This makes it clear that Waterhouse, now a mother, has been on a journey of reflection and acceptance while still naturally holding anger she retains from the past.
While we do see a quintessential Waterhouse and Del Rey-esque melancholy in this record, there is a great warmth underlying in her tone and the gentle acoustics particularly in songs like ‘To Get You’ and ‘To Love’, making it a perfect autumnal listen.
Waterhouse addresses her reputation and how receiving what she dreamt of did not prevent her being humbled by the world
Some songs fall short in some ways due to less lyrical complexity, and a limited number of lyrics, but perhaps that comes down to being a ‘music person’ or a ‘lyric person’ (not that you cannot be both). However in songs where this could be argued such as ‘Blackout Drunk’ and ‘My Fun’, Waterhouse offers something sonically refreshing to what we hear on the radio in 2024. Revisiting the 80s in ‘My Fun’, with wind instrumentation layering but a catchy yet refreshing melody, this is an underrated track on the record that will encapsulate many tastes.
A personal favourite on the album is ‘Helpless’. A simple strum on the guitar, and beautifully constructed lyricism, and yet from discourse I have seen it seems to be forgotten. With religious imagery of “I’m high like a queen, I fall like I’m church” and the writer’s address speaking in the present rather than the past it offers really raw songwriting from Waterhouse. While I believe a build towards the end of the song could have been very effective, ‘Helpless’ remains as a hidden gem of the album: softly spoken but painfully written.
Waterhouse is never opposed to taking elements of music from her muses in the music industry, but she is never afraid to create something that on the outside seems less loud and catchy. Memoir of a Sparklemuffin is just that; it may cause less of a rumbling in the pop culture space, but listeners, observers and fans of her music can easily see the depth, wit and visionary art that has been achieved in this new record. I strongly recommend giving this album a chance – even if not on the first listen, by the second you will find something for you.
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