Suki Waterhouse Says Early Motherhood Is "Shocking In Every Way"
The musician and actress is embracing the learning curve of motherhood, and releasing a whole new album while she's at it.
Suki Waterhouse is taking the unexpected challenges of raising a child in stride. After welcoming her baby girl with partner Robert Pattinson in April, she has embraced postpartum life and kept working on projects that she loves, including finishing her second album, Memoir of a Sparklemuffin, which will release in September.
Waterhouse opened up about her new album, her love story with Robert Pattinson and what it feels like to be a new mom in a recent cover story with British Vogue. It's not that motherhood has been easy so far, but Waterhouse seems ready for the chaos. She described early motherhood as "shocking in every way" in the interview, but that having her baby with her feels like an "anchor" that keeps her unbothered by any unwanted public atention or gossip.
She has shared before that the postpartum experience is humbling, saying in a past post on Instagram in April, "I’m proud of everything my body has achieved and proud of the kindness and grace I’ve given myself during this recovery period." Waterhouse's sister Immy said in the same British Vogue interview that, "She approached pregnancy and motherhood the way she does to most things in life; with an almost confusing nonchalance and go-with-the-flow attitude...and all of that calm has transferred to the baby–she’s a true chiller."
Waterhouse announced that she was pregnant last year while touring and playing various festivals around the world. She carried on with life as usual for the most part, showing off her baby bump in colorful sequined stage costumes and filming the music video for "OMG," the first single from her new album, Memoir of a Sparklemuffin.
Memoir of a Sparklemuffin will follow her 2022 debut album I Can't Let Go, which she made after finishing filming the TV series Daisy Jones & The Six as keyboard player Karen. Waterhouse has been releasing music on the side of modeling and acting since 2016, but she never allowed it to fully take priority until after she had the experience of acting in a band with Daisy Jones. She finished recording Memoir of a Sparklemuffin in the final stages of her pregnancy, officially finishing the process just two days before she gave birth.
The album title, though unusual at first glance, holds its own significant story. A Sparklemuffin is a kind of spider found in eastern Australia. It's very small, but it's fuzzy and colorful. To mate, the male spider has to perform a dance for the female. If the male doesn't succeed with the dance, he gets eaten by the female. Waterhouse sees this as a metaphor for public life: "If they don’t like your dance, they will eviscerate you," she told British Vogue.
Waterhouse's music has been around for years, but her 2017 track "Good Looking" made waves on TikTok more recently with fans posting dramatic edits to the dreamy, cathartic chorus. Her 2016 debut single "Brutally" is a heartbreaking ballad describing the hardships she had as a woman in her early twenties in relationships with older men. During that period of her life, music was important in expressing and understanding her emotions. Her new music now has more room for fun and play as she explores the happiness and love that she feels with her family.
She also spoke to British Vogue about how Pattinson has calmly handled fatherhood so far, saying that his relationship with their daughter is "an actual love story, and that he is “the dad [she] could have hoped for." The couple had planned to have a child together after spending six years together. She opened up about how she met Pattinson years ago at an upscale Los Angeles game night surrounded by Hollywood A-listers like Al Pachino where they both bonded over their shared akwardness.
Waterhouse started dating Pattinson in 2018 and the pair have been together ever since, though they have both been notably private about the relationship, especially in earlier years. More recently, the couple have been spotted on red carpets together and they attended the 2023 Met Gala together.
With an upcoming tour and plenty of press to accompany the new album as she raises her daughter, Waterhouse will be more than busy next year. Knowing her go-with-the-flow attitude and her desire to embrace any chaos that life throws her way, she will thrive through it all.
