…of music that is, and it’s a good thing she didn’t.
Suki Waterhouse—actress, model, and icon of the Tumblr years—is now pouring her talents into taking her music to the next step. After teasing fans with a single or two nearly every year for the last six years, Waterhouse released her debut album, I Can’t Let Go.
“It was something that I desperately wanted to do,” Waterhouse told Variety. “For probably the last four years as I was putting out these singles, I guess I was testing my own courage and whether or not people would like it.”
The highly anticipated, full-length project is even having its impact on those previously released singles. “Good Looking,” released in 2017, hit #1 in the US, Canada, and Australia within one week of the album’s debut.
I had the opportunity to check out Suki Waterhouse at Elsewhere for her second sold-out night in Brooklyn last Friday. This was my first live show since March of 2020, and I really couldn’t have asked for a better welcome back.
Beautifully nostalgic
When I first started at Festival Squad, I was still a teenager. Deep in the Tumblr phase and listening to the likes of Lana Del Rey, M83, Arctic Monkeys, The XX and The Neighbourhood (coincidentally, Jesse Rutherford was in line behind me to get into Waterhouse’s show). Friday night transported me back to those angsty days in the best way.
Endlessly grateful
Suki Waterhouse was just as excited to get to perform for the crowd as the crowd was to see the performance. In between songs, her smile couldn’t be bigger. Taking a minute to explain how she had always felt this gravitational pull towards music, Waterhouse expressed how happy and grateful she was with the reaction to the album. When singing, you could almost see the release from all the years of timidly putting out a single here and there and questioning this passion. It felt freeing just as a spectator.
A Timeless Icon
Her stage presence, her voice, her band, even down to the suit she rocked on stage—it was all just so effortlessly cool. A dark, maybe-couple-hundred-cap venue was the perfect setting for the night. I’m really glad I caught her at this stage in her music career. Small, intimate shows are my favorite way to see an artist, but I don’t think Suki Waterhouse will be playing small crowds for much longer.
