Holly Humberstone reaches a gothic coming-of-age with her latest record, ‘Cruel World’
On April 10th, indie-pop riser Holly Humberstone released her second studio album, Cruel World via Polydor Records.
Written through daily studio sessions with collaborator Rob Milton, Cruel World draws deeply on themes of melancholy, self-discovery and feminine love, with Holly taking particular inspiration from her childhood as the youngest of four sisters.
Two years since her breakthrough debut album, this latest project proves how Holly has grown into a global force, honing her storytelling abilities and building a new yet expansive and escapist world of music.
In her release day post, Holly said: “this album encapsulates two years of loving, learning, yearning, growing up, embracing changes and navigating being a young woman in the modern world. I feel so privileged to have been able to grow and learn so much about myself and those closest to me through its creation.”
The first of twelve tracks, So It Starts is an instrumental opener filled with 45 seconds of rich and melodic violins. Expressive and aptly theatrical, this track guides listeners into the sonic landscape of Holly’s new album, inviting us all to take a breath before falling down the rabbit hole of Cruel World.
Next, Make It All Better takes the throughline of the first track’s melody into a synth-laded production - something Holly’s discography is known and loved for. Detailing the all-consuming side of young love, Holly sings of needing her lover “like the air” or “like a teenager needs weed”, saying: “I want all the PDA, I want to kiss the skin off of your cheeks / We’ll let everybody stare, I don’t care / They’re just extras in our scene.”
Make It All Better romanticises the mundane parts of love, because according to Holly’s notes on the track, “even the bad-dream moments feel worth it when you’re totally wrapped up in someone.”
With track three, we reach To Love Somebody, a single first released earlier this January. The current-most popular song on the record with 13 million Spotify streams, To Love Somebody is praised for its universality as a song that anyone who has loved and lost can relate to.
The track was written after Holly watched someone she was close to go through a brutal heartbreak. In her own words, “It’s better to have loved and lost, even when it sucks, because feeling everything is part of the human experience.” Translating this into song form, To Love Somebody is self-assured and upbeat, with the pre-chorus being where Holly’s songwriting abilities shine through: “They tell you that you feel too much / Euphoria right down to the crush / It all breaks down, it always does / It all works out, it always does.”
The song’s hook is as follows: “To love somebody / To hurt somebody / To lose somebody / Is to know you’re only human, honey,” and it’s one of those guitar riff-laden choruses where you don’t know if you should dance along or cry. Emphasising the inherent pain of loving deeply, Holly reminds listeners that these feelings can coexist, and will “keep spinning to the beat.”
Then comes the title track, Cruel World. Sanguine on a surface-level, it dives further into the pain of long-distance, because according to its lyrics, going out solo isn’t fun unless the person you love is there, too. The first verse is home to one of our favourite lines: “Now the lights are getting low / Mirrorballs and pheromones / I can be a social hand grenade / Tick, tick, tick, tick, boom.”
Its pre-chorus captures the dichotomous centre of the record, with Holly singing that “under ultraviolet light” she “might cu-cu-curl up and die” without her lover near, asking, “How am I supposed to breathe without you, babe?”
Directed by Silken Weinberg, the song’s music video matches this sentiment by taking place on a Victorian theatre set, where Holly subtly attempts to sabotage the unfolding production:
Then we reach Die Happy, which takes listeners through a fairytale night of driving fast with the windows down and wandering through a crumbling old house - which yes, is a true story.
Taking inspiration from Angela Carter’s collection, The Bloody Chamber (1979) and Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel, Dracula (1897), Holly wrote Die Happy with the intention to “evoke the feeling of throwing yourself into love fully and recklessly.”
The first single from this new era (released back in November of last year), Die Happy is an imaginative and mellow song with an attention-grabbing first line: “You said in a past life we were spiders / Or something neo-goth and grandiose.” Reaching the chorus, the instrumentals swell as she urges her lover to hit the gas, because after all, “If we crash and kiss the dash, baby, tragically / To die with you is to, to die happy.”
Following this comes White Noise, Holly’s self-proclaimed “crying in the club song.” Like the older sister of the title track, White Noise tackles the quiet isolation of falling apart when surrounded by obliviously happy people.
“It’s about when the busiest places make you feel the most alone,” Holly says. “When you’re exorcising ghosts with mascara running and a whole party is going on around you, but you’re so tuned out.” A Gothic pop tune with a euphoric chorus to match, White Noise feels like drifting between dreams, truly capturing the kind of modern loneliness only a young woman could feel.
Surpassing the album’s halfway point, we then reach Lucy. More of a figurehead than a literal person, “Lucy represents so many of us young women trying to find their place in the modern world that is not designed for us.”
Encompassing the shift from her previous album to now, Holly notes how the song explores “moving on from the haunted house era and learning how to shape the world around you as a young adult.” And whilst leaving behind childhood is daunting, the purpose of this track is to reassure listeners that they are on the right page, even when turning chapters becomes confusing. Lyrically, Holly says this beautifully: “behind every rain cloud, there is a promise that flowers will grow.”
Keeping that child-like wonder alive, she sings of choruses of angels and a world in full bloom, curating a fantastical lullaby that opens what’s essentially the album’s ‘side b’ with confidence and groundedness.
Next comes Red Chevy, the first song written for the album - though it admittedly was about an old blue Ford. Opening with the rev of an engine, Holly sings: “So if you're ready / Won't you come on, hold me, babe?” Combining British references to corner shops with movie-like imagery of fast food and video games, Holly certainly achieves her goal of making it feel like any romance can be cinematic.
Dramatically in love, she sings: “I know it sounds stupid, but you're all that I need / So kiss me like you fuckin' mean it” as the drums thunder behind.
Our favourite track of the album, Drunk Dialling, follows. “Somewhere between horny and sad,” Holly says, “It’s about pretending you’re fine, and then absolutely not being fine. It’s the desperation of an unrequited crush and the hilarious self-awareness that comes with it. Unhinged, but fun.”
And that it is, with whimsical synths and tongue-in cheek lyrics like, “I can put my lipstick on and blow kisses at creepy dudes.” Ironically, this predates one of the album’s best lines: “I’m working on my impression of someone who barely ever misses you.”
In the chorus, a groovy bassline joins Holly’s vocals, giving them an almost guttural punch. And much like her songwriting idol Taylor Swift, Holly proves herself a master of the bridge. She sings, “I thought about crying over you / I thought about lying alone in my bathroom / I thought about driving to your house, cause I don't know what else to do,” cutting the song’s tensive thread because “what’s left to lose?” Thanks to its simple and inviting hook, Holly ensures that Drunk Dialling is a track listeners will want to replay again and again.
Track ten, Peachy, pulls listeners back down into the inner turmoil of doubt and fear. It’s title an informal adjective for being ‘just fine’, Holly sings: “With your head on my chest, I forget that I don't know much about anything / You got it all mapped out, you play it out like a movie / And I'm best supporting actress.”
The song itself is much like the age-old image of a devil on the shoulder, manifested by the singer’s struggle between wanting love and worrying that she’ll ruin it. A cautious ballad with aching vocals, she tells her lover: “Don't put your faith in me / Don't cut me a set of keys
God knows, I'm twenty-four, I'm still a baby.”
A deep vault of vulnerability within the project, Peachy provides a new perspective on the impermanence of young love, with a gorgeous piano melody to keep Holly’s darkest thoughts company.
Returning briefly to a more upbeat vibe, Blue Dream is - as the name suggests - a stoner love song. Inspired by her boyfriend smoking a lot in LA, the lyrics are sweet and romantic: “You brought flowers in from the rain / If you let your guard down, then I’ll do the same / Now we’re neck deep in sweat beads and sunscreen / My blue dream, oh, how could I refuse you now?”
Fittingly psychedelic in its production, the song’s outro sees Holly repeatedly ask: “Won’t you be my blue dream?” as it fades back to reality.
Speaking of, the album’s final track, Beauty Pageant is about exactly that. More specifically, Holly notes: “This song is about grappling with the expectations that come with my job and more specifically of being a woman. The pressure to be pretty and to perform is something that women of every age are dealing with - it is seen as currency - especially within the music industry.” During the songwriting process, Holly was inspired by films such as I, Tonya (2017) and Black Swan (2010), because of how they explore the baggage of womanhood in modern society and the fine line between staying composed and coming unravelled.
Cleverly, it’s first line is a call-back to track one: “So it starts with a girl / In a bar, and she's singing from the heart / Glitter curtain, sticky floors / She would die for the applause.” Painting the image of a doll and telling listeners to “pull on my strings and wind me up,” Holly’s raw vocals are complimented by a piano melody like that of a music box.
“This song is a moment of vulnerability and raw ugly truths,” Holly says. “It’s the moment after the show when you’re taking off your makeup in the mirror and there are no distractions left. It’s brutally real, a little ugly, and painfully honest - crying alone in your room because you can’t keep the performance going forever.” Encompassing all the messiness of growing up under the spotlight, Beauty Pageant feels like a final flourish before the curtains close.
With Cruel World, Holly Humberstone has crafted a candid journey through young adulthood, with indie-pop offerings that lament on the ebb and flow between love and loss.
Befitting the Gothic universe in which they stand, every track is laden with references to childhood memories, her unguarded storytelling inviting listeners to look inward at their own experiences - however they may relate. A stunning record that’s sure to be on repeat for us at VoiceNoted, we can’t wait to see where next in this Cruel World Holly will venture.
Having recently played a sold-out show at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire (our review of which you can read here) Holly’s momentum is set to move internationally with major festival appearances at Coachella, Governors Ball and Mad Cool this summer.
To stay in-the-know about what’s next, make sure to follow Holly on Instagram and stream Cruel World on Spotify below.
