Suki Waterhouse (2026)

One Liner:  Model and actress who went from forgettable bedroom pop to kinda funky indie pop

Wikipedia Genre:  Her Wikipedia doesn't list a genre, it just says model - actress - singer, but I'll say indie pop, bedroom pop

Home: London

Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 4
Both Weekends.
Saturday at 4:15

T-Mobile Stage

Thoughts:  She was last here in 2023, and my review was pretty rude.  The funny thing is that now, after listening to this for most of one work day, I was feeling like this is pretty solid (especially compared to much of this poster).  Funny how time and context changes things.

I can't hear the name Suki (or Sookie) without immediately thinking of Gilmore Girls and the first time I recall seeing Melissa McCarthy.  My wife loved that show a million years ago, and more recently, middle kid has watched through the entire thing at least nien times.  Very clever show.

This is not Melissa McCarthy though.  Alice Suki Waterhouse is an English gal (partner of Batman/Sexy Vampire/Cedric Diggory Robert Pattinson, and maybe they made a baby together since 2023) who got her start in modeling (like, a legit modeling career with multiple covers of Vogue and major brand runway walking), then an acting career that included one of the Divergent movies and more recently the miniseries Daisy Jones and the Six.  We gave up on that miniseries, but the wife and I both really enjoyed the book!  her father is a plastic surgeon, and she has two younger sisters who are models.  Hmmmmm.

But in the midst of all of those things keeping her busy, along comes a few loosie singles that popped.  The first big one was "Good Looking," released in 2017, which apparently became a viral hit in 2022.  It was, of course, because of TikTok.  She said that she was working on getting her real record out, when this six year old song popped back up.  Apparently, her management had asked if they could delete all the old crap from before the album so that the album was the music available, and she thankfully disagreed.  933.3 million streams! (up from 199.6 back in 2023, so the popularity has continued).

She admitted that the recording was "dodgy" and done in her apartment.  You can definitely tell.  Lotta kissing in that video, and then WTF is up with the blood?  Damn.  That was disturbing.  A comment claims that it was real - she accidentally stuck her hand in the fan as she was dancing around on the bed.  Usually, a video makes me like a song more, but that video did the exact opposite.  Nope.

Three albums - 2022's I Can't Let Go, 2024's Memoir of a Sparklemuffin (great title), and 2026's Loveland - and then some singles and an EP.  I think the difference with the more recent tunes is the production and instrumentation.  It's not just her farting around in her bedroom anymore, she's got indie rock musicians in the background making the songs sound more full and complete.

None of her other songs come anywhere close to the success of that track, but "Moves," from the first album, tries the hardest with 120.4 million streams.

It is an odd thing - after powering through her catalog, my overall feel was that I liked the tunes.  But now, really paying attention to these two tracks, I find them annoying.  They feel overwrought and heavy-handed, trying to shove an emotional response at me or something.  

But, the new album was released on July 10 and I think it has a different style.  Like, "Happy With It" has some funk and fun, made me think of Mitski.  "Notting Hill" has a little Neko Case in there.  "Weirdo" makes me think of Lana Del Rey.  The top track is the first one, "Back in Love."  10.1 million streams.

Yeah, I like this new album quite a bit more than the first one.  I could see trying her out.