header image: holly humberstone by silken weinberg
words: aggy kazlauskas
it's holly humberstone season
“It all works out, it always does,” holly humberstone claims in the pre-chorus of her triumphant new single ‘to love somebody’ – a four-minute musical odyssey that dauntlessly dissects the conflicting nature of romance.
needless to say, devotion is a feeling so intricate that even science could not yield it, nor wither its significance. perhaps that’s why the greatest minds of all time have always argued that love is right in the middle of madness and sanity; it exists on a delicate line between polar opposites – a notion that the london-based musician herself now treads in the backdrop of masterfully layered pop production and lyrical references to gothic horror films. “In ‘To Love Somebody’ I wanted to capture that contradiction: to love somebody is to hurt somebody, and to lose somebody, well, at least you got to love somebody,” she reveals.
those familiar with humberstone’s music will know that this sentiment isn’t exactly new within her work; the brits’ Rising Star award winner has a long history of employing songwriting as a courageous tool to cope with paradoxical introspection – her 2021 single ‘scarlett’ is a case in point, with one of the most endearingly self-deprecating lyrics ever written: “We go together / Like bad British weather on the one day I made plans.” five years down the line, her penmanship feels much more elevated – ‘to love somebody’ aims with faultless precision, laying the groundwork for a realm that’s equal parts human and supernatural (“you took a right hook to the jaw / […] gotta be boxing clever”); a realm that, as of today, has a name – cruel world.
speaking of the forthcoming twelve-track project, one thing is clear: pain and pleasure are a fundamental part of mortality, and humberstone is aware of that. “In order to feel extreme happiness, you have to know extreme sadness,” she explains in a press release. “The record explores love as beautiful and inherently painful.”
the announcement comes as no surprise. its poised lead single ‘die happy’, which dropped in november, alluled to the beginning a project that many (including me, naturally) have been anticipating since the era of the singer’s debut album, paint my bedroom black, reached its culmination; it’s high time for the sequel, and it seems as though humberstone has never been more ready to take the stage. it’s officially holly humberstone season.
‘to love somebody’ is out now.
holly humberstone’s highly-anticipated sophomore album, cruel world, will drop on april 10th – pre-save now here.
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