Suki Waterhouse’s second studio album, “Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,” released Sept. 13, is a collage of her life in an 18-track double album, primarily centered in the alternative genre. I began listening to Waterhouse in 2022 with the release of her first album “Milk Teeth,” recently picking her back up after she opened for Taylor Swift’s Era’s tour this summer.

“Memoir of a Sparklemuffin” is a dive into some of Waterhouse’s best indie pop. The album is her longest yet; her tracks vary in length from two minutes on the dot to a little over four minutes. Each song focuses on a part of Waterhouse’s life: from her career to her love life and to self-reflection.

The album primarily shares the sadder, deeper part of Waterhouse while staying close to the indie pop genre. Tracks that follow closer to this pattern are “Lullaby,” “Model, Actress, Whatever” and “To Love.” The track most embodying this is “To Get You,” in which Waterhouse recounts her dreams and attempts “to get you” despite feeling hopeless and “drifting away.” 

In “Lullaby,” Waterhouse opens with a haunting, vocal-centered intro; “Model, Actress, Whatever,” in which Waterhouse references how her career throughout the years shaped who she is in a similar style. Finally, “To Love,” is a slower paced, more melodically-centered song to end the album, with a softer but slightly upbeat rhythm.

“Memoir of a Sparklemuffin” also occasionally dips into a somber, more acoustic-centered sound, that is normally accompanied by piano and orchestral elements. This sound flourishes in “Helpless” and “Legendary,” which show a newer part of Waterhouse. A key track that follows this structure is “Everybody Breaks Up Anyway.” The song primarily focuses on providing a polished vocal feel with a gentle background piano and subtle increments of what sounds like cello. 

The album also has a scope of a more upbeat, melancholic sound featured in songs like “Gateway Drug,” “Lawsuit,” “Big Love” and “Supersad.” This also follows in “OMG,” my favorite track because of its energy and synth-centered sound. It teeters closer to alternative pop, creating a fast but thoughtful song. 

Overall, the album follows Waterhouse’s more layered vocal structure, and does a masterful job creating a balanced palette of sounds that combine beautifully. It’s definitely my favorite Waterhouse album to date, doing a fabulous job of what it set out to do: creating an evoking album full of captivating music.