Place has always been at the centre of Holly Humberstone’s lucid songwriting. Falling Asleep At The Wheel, her breakthrough EP, introduced us to a young woman trying to understand the walls in which she grew up.
The debut catapulted Holly from her gothic family home in Grantham to the world stage. Winning BRIT Rising Star in 2022, presented to her by Sam Fender, and performing “London Is Lonely," watched by millions at home, was another step into her place.
Having toured the world with her beloved band, from Lollapalooza to Coachella, Glastonbury to her first festival headline at Barn on The Farm, Holly was invited to support Sam Fender at St. James' Park to 50K people and Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour, playing Wembley Stadium to 90000 fans. Late night messages to friends in new cities, feeling homesick, but touring the US with Girl in Red and Olivia Rodrigo, Holly was living the dream she had dreamt as a little girl.
But she wasn’t in the Midlands anymore. This is where Cruel World begins. A new Place, Holly’s Place. Sonically, Cruel World stitches nostalgia into forward motion: echoes of The Smiths and childhood car journeys refracted through bold, festival-ready pop songs. Visually, Holly and her sister Eleri have created a fairytale world inspired by the trinkets of her childhood. “This feels like my work more than before. I’m in control of everything. No is a complete sentence. I just wanted to make something I’ll be proud of looking back at, something that is mine.”