On September 13, Suki Waterhouse released her sophomore indie pop album “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin.” The album consists of 18 tracks that explore Waterhouse’s identity, personal growth, and life, showing a vulnerable side to her. Every track has a dreamy vibe like sinking in a swamp surrounded by fireflies, and while I enjoyed it, the vibe got repetitive.
Suki Waterhouse is a model, singer-songwriter, and actress from London, and she’s known for her song “Good Looking” as well as starring in the TV show “Daisy Jones and the Six.” She’s currently engaged to Actor Robert Patterson, and the two share a baby girl together. I first heard about Waterhouse when “Good Looking” became popular on social media, but I didn’t really get into her until recently when I heard her song “Johanna”.
Waterhouse announced on a social media platform that her new album would be named after an Australian spider, the Sparklemuffin. In a video, Waterhouse said, “I named my second album after an obscure Australian spider during a manic episode, so now I have to just be confident and chill about it.”
The most notable song on this whole album is most definitely “Model, Actress, Whatever.” which addresses the confusion of her occupation and overall showing a lot of emotion. It’s like she takes control of not only the song but also her own life. Out of the whole album this is the only song that really stood out to me.
This album has a hazy vibe to it, like looking through fog. All of the songs sound a little bit like a fever dream. With 18 tracks, a “dramatic” length for a sophomore album according to Sub Pop Records, every song tells a different story but they all blend into each other. The most notable moment where this happens is the transition from “Faded” to “Nonchalant.” The upbeat and mystical sound of “Faded” goes into a slight country and rock sound of “Nonchalant” and the effect is amazing. The breathy vocals, the slight nostalgic sound, it all blends together. Most of the lyrics give me a Kimya Dawson kind of vibe. A little happy, a little sad, but over all really good.
I’d say my favorite song on the album is “Big Love” even though the lyrics are a little bit repetitive, it still sounds good. She sings “Big love, big love, big love,” over and over on the track. The British rock ‘n’ roll sound goes beautifully with the edgy lyrics. In the chorus, Waterhouse sounds slightly out of breath, really showing how into the song she is.
A downside is that most of the songs on the 53 minute album sound the same. They all have the same dreamlike trance to them. Even though some of the songs have different vibes, Waterhouse is using the same tone on almost all of them, singing in a kind of monochromatic nonchalant sound, as if she’s singing with a straight face, showing no emotion.
Overall, I give “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin” a 6/10. This album could have had so much more potential if they didn’t all have the same tone. I feel a little bit like Waterhouse put most if not all of her attention to ¨Model, Actress, Whatever¨, which is not all that bad considering that it’s the most popular song on the album.
But have you heard it? If so, you should give it a listen and leave your thoughts down below.
