The rising English starlet returns with a high quality second album. Out 10th of April on Polydor Records.
Humberstone surrounds herself with so many crucifixes you find yourself wondering how religious she is. There is nothing in interviews to suggest she has any particular special interest. Clearly, there is a love of gothic styling, without being drawn into a fully traditional goth music sound. She has talked about believing her former home was haunted.
Her list of achievements shows both her level of talent, and her eye for an opportunity. She is a mutli-instrumentalist, able to play guitar, piano and violin. She has opened on tour for Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift. She won the 2022 Brit Award For Rising Star. Those more indie credentials can be seen in one of her earliest releases being a cover of Radiohead’s ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ and she was invited to help Sam Fender re-record an acoustic version of ‘Seventeen Going Under.’
Debut album Paint My Bedroom Black was three years ago and was quite a slower affair. This follow up has a larger number of up-tempo tracks, and a bigger number of bona-fide sounding hits. ‘Die Happy’ was the first release back in November, Humberstone describes it as a fairy tale at night – evoking a feeling of throwing yourself into love fully and recklessly. That there is danger in love.
“So hit the gas, I want it fast, want it reckless
Now all that matters is your name on my necklace
And if we crash and kiss the dash, baby, tragically
To die with you is to, to die happy.”
‘Die Happy’ sounded wonderful but it was just a warm up for the absolute monster hit that was ‘To Love Somebody,’ a piece of work that feels right out of pops top tier. It is about how important the experience of love is, even if it doesn’t work out. Even when it has just fallen apart around you.
The album begins with ‘So It Starts’ which is like a short prelude of the track that follows, ‘Make It All Better.’ Another song about love:
“I want to be old and gross with you, Matching tracksuits on a treadmill, stretchy skin, green tattoos, No regrets, I’ll fade out with you.”
The backing and the tempo rise until it ends on a near jungle drum and bass breakdown, the perfect point to move into ‘To Love Somebody.’ ‘White Noise’ is about being at a club on a night out but everything is secretly falling apart. About how being surrounded with people can sometimes be the loneliest place to be. The music only conveys a hint of the sadness, mostly holding onto pop. ‘Lucy’ is about a younger friend of Humberstone’s. It is about growing up and trying to find your place in the world. Musically it is one of the simplest tracks on the album, a straight forward acoustic guitar line carrying it.
‘Red Chevy’ shows Humberstone’s more commercial instincts. The song was written about an old blue Ford but in the final version it is retooled to something that is even more American, there is clearly one eye on cracking that bigger market. There is a playful hint of saxophone towards the end. ‘Drunk Dialling’ is like a companion piece to White Noise – about pretending to be fine but not being fine.
‘Peachy’ significantly slows things downs as the piano takes the lead. It has a want for love, but a worry about jumping too quickly into things. How do you know something is right? ‘Blue Dream’ has a significantly different vibe with Humberstone describing it as her ‘stoner love song.’ The final track ‘Beauty Pageant’ is another big shift in tone. There is a gorgeous old -school piano line, nearly a hint of Bowie’s Life On Mars, before it twists into a complex vocal performance about how challenging it is to be a woman in the modern world. It is a fine highlight of the album and a strong way to finish.
This is an extremely good collection of pop songs, instantly accessible but with just enough going on beneath the surface to draw a bit more thought. In ‘To Love Somebody’ it absolutely has one of the best singles of the year on it. We saw Humberstone playing a stripped back set at the Oxford Academy recently and with just a guitar and a keyboard it really highlighted the quality underpinning many of these new tracks. She is a genuine talent and will be one to look out for at Reading Festival in the Autumn.
Essential Tracks: ‘To Love Somebody,’ ‘Die Happy,’ ‘Lucy,’ ‘Peachy’ and ‘Beauty Pageant.’
Leave a Reply