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Photo by Silken Weinberg

Bedroom pop fans around the world rejoice because the queen of moody melodies and heart-piercing lyrics is back. Holly Humberstone just announced her sophomore album Cruel World, which is dropping on April 10th. Since releasing her highly anticipated debut album Paint My Bedroom Black in 2023, she has toured the world, opened for the most successful tour of all time, and then hunkered down to create this new record. For Cruel World, Holly continued her collaboration with Rob Milton and tapped Silken Weinberg for visuals, best known for his work with Ethel Cain. Today, she shares the album’s lead single “To Love Somebody” and its accompanying cinematic music video which sees her hesitantly befriending a gothic horror icon. 

Humberstone’s up-tempo tracks are usually laced with an underlying layer of sadness, but in “To Love Somebody” it’s the opposite. Even as she sings about the woes of love, there’s overflowing optimism fighting to come forward. The music video is stunning, dark but light in its playful nature as we see Holly slowly warm up to the Nosferatu lurking in the shadows of her house. The song is like the perfect catch up session with a friend that completely changes your outlook on life. It’s a touching and striking story of turning a spooky situation into something that can bring you comfort. Her vocals sound gorgeous as ever, but perhaps with a newfound lightness and assurance as she embarks on this exciting new era. 

On the inspiration behind “To Love Somebody,” Humberstone shares “I wrote this song after watching someone close to me go through a brutal heartbreak. It’s better to have loved and lost, even when it sucks, because feeling everything is part of the human experience.” She achieves the concept flawlessly, without becoming the preachy friend who’s telling you to get over a breakup. Her gentle nature and deep understanding of heartbreak makes Humberstone the perfect artist to deliver the message.

With a debut comes weight and stress, but the creation of her sophomore record had Humberstone painting with a lighter stroke. “Music isn’t the stressful part of my life anymore,” she shares. “It became the anchor, the constant, while everything else was shifting.” How this growth will reflect in the rest of the album, we can’t wait to find out.