Not even two years have passed since the September 2024 release of Suki Waterhouse‘s Memoir of a Sparklemuffin album, but the singer/actress had plenty of life changes to mine for her just-released third LP, Loveland.
“My last record, I finished it like the week before I had my daughter,” Waterhouse tells the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast about welcoming a baby girl with partner Robert Pattinson in March 2024. “And then this one, I remember I started a couple of weeks after she was born. … I never go, ‘OK, now I’m starting the new record!’ I think that would seem too frightening in a way.”
But when she dove in, she put together a wide range of dreamy pop songs for her major-label debut with Island Records, co-writing every track on the project and teaming up with some reliable pop hitmakers for the first time, including Amy Allen, Aaron Dessner, Joel Little, Dan Wilson and Emily Warren.
“What an incredible group of people that I got to work with,” she marvels about the caliber of songwriters and producers on the project. “I think I connect with people really quickly, because I’m quite unguarded once I get into that room. I kind of have that British sort of [thing], like you can never quite understand if I’m being serious or not. But it doesn’t take me long to open up and kind of be talking about the nitty-gritty … and asking people what they think. When I’m with the right person, we can very quickly kind of get that down into a song.”
Listen to Katie & Keith’s full conversation with Suki here, and find highlights from the chat below.
Being inspired by the “huge shift” of motherhood
This record has been me having this huge shift that I knew was coming. I feel like my last record was sort of tying up all of those loose ends, knowing that I’m going into having this huge shift, and then it’s kind of becoming undone and then putting myself back together again. By the end of it, I can very much hold two truths at a time. I feel wiser than ever and also sillier than ever. … I also think a lot of my insecurities and worries about the kind of person that I was going to be, or the kind of mother or partner, and how I was going to do all of that together — I’ve kind of come to this understanding within myself, and I think a lot of those insecurities have maybe lessened, and I’ve kind of found my new self in this very joyful, delicate, interesting time in my life.
Why “Back in Love” was the right lead single
“Back in Love,” it was the last song that I wrote [for the album]. … It felt like healing, and it also felt like, I felt so excited. … Sometimes I feel this kind of dread about going out on the road, and that song made me really excited to go back out on the road. I’ve never played Saturday Night Live before, but suddenly, I was seeing myself play Saturday Night Live. By the way, haven’t got the offer, but you know what I mean? It felt like that kind of song. It kind of just, it made me dream a bit bigger.
How Britpop bled into second single “Tiny Raisin”
Seeing Oasis last year was definitely quite a big thing for me. The year before that, I opened for Taylor on the Eras Tour, so I got that experience of being at Wembley, then went back there the year later, saw my favorite band in the world that I grew up with, and so I think that was definitely running through my veins. And you know, David Bowie for sure also, like that kind of spacey, psych-rock feel. … You know that [British] term “marding”? I was marding a bit on this record and kind of getting my grievances out, but in a kind of cheeky way that feels true to me as a person.
Why “Weirdo” might be her “most personal” song yet
“Weirdo,” that song is maybe the most personal and just me really speaking very bluntly into a microphone and kind of just addressing things that I feel a bit embarrassed about. … They’re the things that you’re kind of like, “Oh, I hope this doesn’t make anyone say whatever on the Internet.” I think that one’s that song. Like, you hope that the listener can kind of get you or have context for your situation a bit, and not just be like, “Oh, you sound bratty.” … I don’t care at all when I’m writing, and then when you’re about to put something out, there’s another brain [or] voice in your head. Then you’ve got to make those two voices speak to each other, because the other one’s just suddenly like, “I want to be liked! I want to be loved!” And then there was the cool version that was just like, “I don’t give a f—, I’m gonna say it!”
What to expect from the Loveland Tour, starting July 22
It’s kabuki kind of, more of like a kind of theater show. … I’m in venues I’ve never been in before. I get to play Radio City for the first time. I never thought that would happen — like, that’s crazy, big bucket-list moments, and a whole new record to play. … I also hate it when I go to anyone’s show and they’re only playing all the new songs, so it is very much a balance.
What she learned from opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
I learned, for example, from Taylor how special she makes people feel. I just always remember walking in and there’s a handwritten note and how happy everyone was to be on that tour, every single person that’s working on it. So yeah, really making sure that everyone’s taken care of and making sure that people know how appreciated they are, because I think the energy backstage and the way that everyone’s treated is so important. So yeah, running like top down, having really like great vibes, and making sure that everyone’s happy.
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Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how Madonna gets her 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and her first of the 2020s decade, as CONFESSIONS II debuts atop the tally. Plus, Ella Langley continues her stranglehold on No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart with “Choosin’ Texas.”
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s managing director, charts and data operations, Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
