By Alexandra Pullen
Photo Credit: Polydor Records
Over the past four years, Holly Humberstone has sky-rocketed within the music industry after winning the BRIT Rising Star Award in 2022, performing support slots for artists including Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Fender and Lewis Capaldi, as well as releasing her debut album Paint My Bedroom Black in 2023. From very early on in her career, the musician’s dark-Gothic image, paired with melancholic and vulnerably anxious but relatable lyricism lured fans in and they have kept their loyalty to Humberstone ever since.
On her second album, Cruel World, Humberstone has moved towards a more confident and grounded sound, underpinned by feelings of belonging amidst change: a reflection of her situation whilst writing the album. In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, the singer, from a small town near Nottingham, reflected upon moving out of her childhood home, “At some point, you’ve got to let go of your childhood and take agency and realise that you’re an adult in the world.” In Cruel World, we see that formative shift from her black-painted bedroom to the big scary world of London manifested through songs that are clever and unguarded.
Much of Humberstone’s music feels heavily influenced by The 1975, and the same can be said for this album. Songs including the string-driven instrumental opening So It Starts and the catchy second single To Love Somebody sound like they could be taken directly from the band’s sophomore album from 2016, and their most recent, Being Funny In A Foreign Language. It makes total sense when considering that Humberstone worked with lead singer Matty Healy on many occasions, with Healy co-writing tracks Sleep Tight and Please Don’t Leave Just Yet.
After the orchestral build up of the first song, we fall straight into Make It All Better, a track of two halves. While in the first we see Humberstone completely lovestruck and protective, in the last minute of the song it becomes disjointed with glitchy collisions. To further the comparison, one could liken it to a lot of the experimentation seen on The 1975’s Notes on a Conditional Form.
The album’s three singles come next with To Love Somebody, Cruel World and Die Happy. Each song has triumphed in building excitement for the singer’s second album, with some comments on the Instagram announcement reading “I can’t wait for the world to hear it, I’m so proud of you” and “The best ever to do it, actually’. While the former is filled with ethereal harmonies and a catchy guitar riff, the album’s titular track is more synth-driven, creating a euphoric feeling which is hugely contrasted with the lyrics. Speaking on the latter, Humberstone shared that she has taken inspiration from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, which both completely make sense as crucial Gothic stories: “…I wanted to show the feeling of throwing yourself into love fully and recklessly. There is danger in love.”
If there’s one thing about Humberstone, it’s that she has perfected the ability to balance upbeat and fun melodies with heartbreaking lyrics. “Play a sad song DJ/I just wanna sway tonight/Since I lost my baby/All I wanna do is cry”, she sings on White Noise. On this track especially, the singer’s vocals are very similar to that of Sabrina Carpenter, and it makes for a beautifully flowery and pop-driven song. Like Carpenter, Humberstone also has a very clever way with words which is displayed on the following track in particular.
“Being a young woman in the modern world is strange/You want to act your shoe size, not your age.” A somewhat volta of Cruel World comes with Lucy, a lovely dedication to a young woman, potentially applicable to all young women trying to find their way in the world. It is a completely stripped back acoustic song, reminiscent of boygenius or Gracie Abrams, acting as a fleeting moment of calm in the middle of the album but certainly a highlight. This feeling returns later though with Peachy, an intensely emotional piano ballad. Humberstone’s vocal ability shines through on this one, and is at top form as she devastatingly delivers the metaphor “You got it all mapped out, you play it out like a movie/And I’m best supporting actress”.
Red Chevy, out of all of the songs on this album, feels most like a continuation of Paint My Bedroom Black. Followed by Drunk Dialling, the pair of these tracks feel like a mellow exploration of the turbulence of love in your ‘20s. Discussing the latter, Humberstone stated “This one sounds like the concoction of horny and sad and also unrequited love-and I feel like this is the one where I’m just taking the p*ss out of myself as much as possible.”
Album closer Beauty Pageant is utterly jaw-dropping in its lyricism. It is honestly difficult to pick a singular stand out, but the second verse must be highlighted:
So I dance till I drop
Pull on my strings and wind me up
I’ll be your favourite, till I’m not
Like a song that you forgot
I’ll wear a dress I can’t afford
You’re not in the Midlands anymore
I click my heels and wish for home”
Countless metaphors summarise the experience of being a young woman in the modern world, and this truly feels like a final bow rounding off an excellent album.
The listening experience of Cruel World is far from cruel, as Holly Humberstone delivers a brilliantly crafted gift to her fans, tied together with the neat bow of self-assurance. Although many of Humberstone’s lyrics paint a picture of uncertainty and chaos in the years of your ‘20s, her sophomore album feels as though it comes from an established and confident voice. Despite having just played an Outstore Tour across the UK, Humberstone has an insanely huge year ahead of her. This weekend, following the release of this album, she will play at Coachella, as well as taking on other festival stages around the world over the summer, before her North America and Europe tour. The future is certainly bright and exciting for her, and we can’t wait to see what comes next.
Photography Copyright 2026 © Kyle Horne/ADRENALINE Magazine, except album art – Copyright 2026 © Polydor Records.
Text Copyright 2026 © Alexandra Pullen/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Chloe Morris 
Madi Briggs