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Nearly one odd year ago, British singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone released her debut EP, Falling Asleep at the Wheel. The succinct six-track EP served as less of a showcase and more of an affirmation of her salient gift for emotionally intoxicating songwriting, calling to mind the unrelenting pathos of artists like Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers. Now, Humberstone returns with her latest track, "Please Don't Leave Just Yet," a sonic departure that sacrifices none of the empathy that fueled her rapid rise.  

Co-produced and co-written by The 1975's Matty Healy, the understated electronic undercurrent of production moves by at a sauntering pace as Humberstone seeks out a refuge from isolation in the arms of another. In Holly's own words, "The song is about wanting someone to stay so badly, even if only for five more minutes, because you know how much it'll hurt when they leave. I think the desperation in the words really sums up how I was feeling at the time and how so many people must've been feeling last year when we were all completely starved of human connection! I often write songs with a bit of a visual in my head, and I kept picturing solitary places, like drifting far out to sea, so far that you can't find a way back, or old deserted cargo shipping yards with all the lights at the edge of the city.

The longing in Humberstone's voice is palpable, falling perfectly in step with the evolving surge of electronic production and distant piano stabs. In many ways, "Please Don't Leave Just Yet" exists as a perfect reintroduction to Humberstone. It captures a distinctly human anguish that feels gentle to the touch while still finding the space for the rising artist to drift through vast, unexplored spaces and sounds.  

"Please Don't Leave Just Yet" arrives alongside the announcement of the British singer-songwriter's sophomore EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, arriving November 5 via Darkroom / Interscope / Polydor Records. "This EP represents a feeling of being lost," shares Holly. "It's the kind of lost that makes you question who you are and where you belong. So lost that someone might need to find you again because you can't find yourself. That's how it felt to move to Liverpool, then London, and be in transit between cities and never settling."

Listen to "Please Don't Leave Just Yet" below: