<p>Along with a weary vocal delivery that comes with an implied frown, Suki Waterhouse offers a combination of dingy, lovelorn retro-pop, generous reverb, and sturdy melodic hooks. On the strength of self-released
... <p>Along with a weary vocal delivery that comes with an implied frown, Suki Waterhouse offers a combination of dingy, lovelorn retro-pop, generous reverb, and sturdy melodic hooks. On the strength of self-released singles like "Brutally" (2016) and "Good Looking" (2017), she eventually landed on Sub Pop's roster. Meanwhile finding steady acting work in film and on television, the singer/songwriter/actor/model made her full-length debut on the label with I Can't Let Go in the first half of 2022. Before the end of the year, the Milk Teeth EP collected early material including "Brutally" and "Good Looking," and 2023 brought a 7" collaboration with Belle and Sebastian ("Every Day's a Lesson in Humility"). When Waterhouse delivered her sophomore LP in 2024, it took the form of the dramatic double album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, which featured her lushest arrangements yet alongside an emotional range worthy of Lana Del Rey.</p>
<p>Born in Hammersmith, London, and raised in nearby Chiswick, Alice Suki Waterhouse began modeling at the age of 16 when she was discovered in London by a clothing retailer. She had added several major apparel brands and cover shoots for the international editions of fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle to her résumé by the time she turned 20. Around that time, she landed her first minor film role in 2012's Pusher, gradually moving up the billing by 2016's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, where she played one of the Bennet sisters. That year, she also had a cameo in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, and her pining acoustic ballad "Brutally" appeared on her own This Rough Magic label.</p>
<p>In 2017, Waterhouse could be seen in the historical miniseries The White Princess and in the title role of the indie film The Girl Who Invented Kissing. She was among the main ensemble cast of the next year's action-comedy Assassination Nation, and acted increasingly frequently into the next decade, including parts in Woody Allen's A Rainy Day in New York (2019) and Séance (2021), directed by Blair Witch franchise writer Simon Barrett. All the while, Waterhouse issued periodic self-released singles, such as 2017's "Good Looking" and 2019's "Coolest Place in the World," which collectively garnered tens of millions of streams.</p>
<p>While continuing to work as an actress, Waterhouse signed with Sub Pop Records in 2021, having recorded her debut LP with Grammy nominee Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Snail Mail). The album, I Can't Let Go, followed in April 2022, shortly before Waterhouse co-starred in the Amazon miniseries Daisy Jones & the Six, about a fictional '70s rock band. A stand-alone single co-written and produced by John Mark Nelson (Taylor Swift, Amy Allen), "Nostalgia," appeared that September, and in November, Waterhouse issued the EP Milk Teeth, consisting of five early career tracks and new song "Neon Signs." In June 2023, the Sub Pop Singles Club produced the Suki Waterhouse and Belle and Sebastian collaboration "Every Day's a Lesson in Humility."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Waterhouse returned to the studio with Cook to work on songs for her next full-length release, a double-length project that found her also working with Foxygen's Jonathan Rado (Weyes Blood, Father John Misty), Cigarettes After Sex's Greg Gonzalez, Rick Nowels (James Blake, Lana del Rey), courtship. member Eli Hirsch, and others. Named for a species of spider known for its bright coloring and elaborative courtship rituals, the resulting Memoir of a Sparklemuffin was her most elaborately arranged and emotionally dramatic yet. It arrived on Sub Pop in September 2024.</p>
<p>Marcy Donelson<br />AllMusic.com</p>
