Suki Waterhouse - The Future of Indie Music?

As a long-time listener of Lana Del Rey’s music, I’ve always been drawn to the light and ethereal music style many singers opt for in their songs (i.e., Kali Uchis, Cigarettes After Sex, Mallrat, etc.). Clearly, Spotify knew what it was doing, throwing in “Melrose Meltdown” by Suki Waterhouse into my rainy day playlist. To say the song is beautiful would be an understatement; it is so unique yet also sounds so familiar at the same time—like the background song in a childhood movie you’ve forgotten about. I just had to click Suki’s profile and hear the rest of her music, crossing my fingers that she wouldn’t be like the singers with only one good song—thankfully, she wasn’t. “Melrose Meltdown” was just one of 10 heavenly songs in her 2022 album I Can’t Let Go.

I could talk about this album forever, if only for the fact that it is done so expertly well. The songs flow into each other but maintain distinction in both their lyrics and sounds. For someone who has never listened to the album, the only comparison I can give in terms of how the songs match is how the celebrity twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen always match—with individual styles yet dressed for the same occasion. My hyperfixation became the 9th song on her album, "Slip," which carries the same haunting beauty as all her other songs but sounds like a memory. Her singles “Nostalgia” and “To Love” are also equally enchanting, yet “To Love” also has a little bit of teenage rage in it that solidifies it as my favorite of hers.

In a genre so difficult to stick to, Suki Waterhouse excels. This was why, a few months later, I found myself standing ankle deep in mud at Lollapalooza in front of Suki Waterhouse’s stage as rain poured around me. Seeing her in person was everything I expected, and her music was incredible to hear under the foggy gray skies. And she even sang her version of the classic “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star, flowing into “Lover” by Taylor Swift. Suki, if you’re reading this, please come back to Chicago; I will be the first to buy tickets.

If one thing can be taken away from my raving about Suki, it’s that any fan of indie music has to try listening to her. You may know Suki already from her famous TikTok song “Good Looking,” but I strongly suggest listening to her other songs too. “Good Looking” is a lovely song for sure, especially with lines like “The skyline falls as I try to make sense of it all,” but her others are just as good, if not better—explore her music outside of TikTok. I hope you like her songs just as much as I do.