Suki Waterhouse's Sparklemuffin Tour got ratcheted up a notch last Wednesday (10/23) when she was joined on stage at the Greek Theater by Ashe for the live debut of "Pushing Daisies."
The light-hearted tune about paranoia won't be found on Waterhouse's Sparklemuffin nor on Ashe's Willson, despite both records having been released just last month.
Unassuming and carefree, despite being about possible death, "Pushing Daisies" was a song Waterhouse instigated and left Ashe, who had been on a creative break.
So in a way, Suki was Ashe's "gateway drug" back into new music.
Ashe told Variety that one writing session with model / actress / singer Waterhouse reenergized her creative juices and got her back on track.
“I started writing again and wrote an album the next day," Ashe said, exaggerating, but probably not by much.
It's easy to understand why the two indie-pop singers jibe so well. They have similar musical and fashion styles, and share a fearlessness that could be contagious, so watch out.
Some may know Waterhouse from her breakout role as Karen Sirko, the unconventional keyboard player in the Amazon Prime TV series Daisy Jones & The Six.
Recently Stevie Nicks revealed that she was pleasantly surprised by how much she liked it, and Waterhouse, after watching it, reluctantly while under the weather.
“I didn’t even want to see it, because I thought I was going to hate it so much,” Nicks told Rolling Stone. “I had COVID when I saw it. I was in my condo in Los Angeles, and I can remember saying, ‘Am I just watching my life go by?'”
Stevie's not alone in thinking that. The author Taylor Jenkins Reid said it began with her thinking about the relationship between Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham when they were in Fleetwood Mac, but then added elements of Jackson Browne, the Eagles, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, and others.
Naturally when Waterhouse read that Stevie said her longtime bandmate Christine McVie would have "been so tickled" by Suki, she was stoked.
Suki's stage production mimics Sparklemuffin's album cover. It's like walking through a dreamy forest at night. The easily-spooked might think it's haunted, but then there's Suki with flowing hair, slinky bohemian chic and vintage elegance, and that carefree attitude on stage that's so disarming.
It's no wonder Stevie saw herself in the entertainer.
Others might know Suki as having opened a London Taylor Swift Eras Tour gig in August.
“The last time I was at Wembley I was dancing my a– off at the Reputation tour!” Waterhouse told her 4.3 million Instagram followers. “Never did I think the next time I’d be here would be opening for my favourite artist with my friends and family in the crowd 🥹”
After thanking Tay, Waterhouse wrote, “you are the world’s biggest and brightest star, I love you so much.”
There's no surprise that the vast majority of The Sparklemuffin Tour will feature the namesake album.
At the Greek a dozen of the 18 songs were from the Sub Pop recording. The remainder being from her previous efforts, 2022's I Can't Let Go, and the EP Milk Teeth that also came out two years ago.
While Waterhouse clearly has a lot on her plate, the Brit is a mother and engaged to the child's famous father, Robert Pattinson. But of all her talents, music might be her biggest strength.
On that stage she can play with her acting chops, she can truly rock any costume she's thrown, and she does have a strong voice with the ability to write songs.
Catch her while you can.
Suki's tour is now in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for a pair of gigs. She'll continue to bring the fun to North America through next week, then take a few weeks off before hitting the road again in December in Kansas City.
It all comes to an end in Atlanta on 12/21, so get your tickets fast as several shows are already sold out.
