If you haven’t caught on already, Suki Waterhouse is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry, and her sophomore album, Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, is proof that she’s gearing up to play the long game.
What even is a Sparklemuffin?, you ask.
A quick Google search will tell you that a Sparklemuffin is a small, colorful Australian spider known for their intricate mating dances. Suki Waterhouse sees the complex ritual these spiders perform as a metaphor for her experience in the music industry. It’s cute, creepy and, in my opinion, genius. We have a queen of fall music on our hands if I do say so myself.
If I had to describe Memoir of a Sparklemuffin in one word, it would be revealing. Memoir of a Sparklemuffin is a lengthy assortment of lush ballads and buoyant indie-rock tunes which explore love (thanks, Robert Pattinson!) heartbreak, and life from the perspective of a woman in the public eye. It’s Waterhouse’s most ambitious – and in my opinion, best – musical project to date. Think the weary soft rock of her breakthrough “Milk Teeth” EP with lyrics that are cleverer and more vulnerable.
Suki herself took to Instagram on September 13th, the day of her album’s release. She described what it was like to make Memoir of a Sparklemuffin.
“Sometimes it feels insane taking the most inner parts of myself and putting them pen to paper,” she said. “But with ever song on this project and the beautiful people I got to make it with I felt more and more sure of how proud I was of this album.”
Memoir of a Sparklemuffin is authentic without feeling overly cheesy or pseudo-relatable, and every song adds to the album as a whole. The entire album is worth a listen or two, but it’s 18 songs long, so I’ll give you my personal top five songs that will definitely find their way onto my playlist this fall:
- Supersad
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This synth-forward banger feels like a song that would play at the end of a movie. It’s uplifting with a hopeful tone, and I love how different it is from the brooding songs Suki is known for.
- My fun
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I’m obsessed with the chill summery vibes of this song. I’ve never been to California – or anywhere near the Pacific for that matter – but this is what I imagine it sounds like.
- Model, Actress, Whatever
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This tender acoustic tune touches on how Suki feels confined by stereotypes. Despite this, ‘Model, Actress, Whatever,” feels hopeful and confident, as if she is reclaiming these labels. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album because it sounds so majestic.
- Could’ve Been A Star
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Was this song scrapped from Lana del Rey’s Ultraviolence? It sure sounds like it. Suki’s desperate wailing on this song elevates the light, percussion-heavy production. She perfectly captures the feeling of being “almost famous”.
- To Love
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Fans of “Good Looking”, this is your new jam! “To Love” is a love song that feels quintessentially Suki Waterhouse, and it has this vintage soft-rock production that compliments her voice so well.
Some other songs I enjoyed were “OMG”, “Think Twice” and “Everybody Breaks Up Anyway”. For a good chunk of this album, the songs bleed into each other, and yet…it is undeniably a vibe.
Memoir of a Sparklemuffin is the perfect album to listen to on a lazy, rainy autumn afternoon. I can’t wait to see where this incredible project takes Suki Waterhouse next.
Final Rating: 8/10
