Holly Humberstone has just performed her largest sold-out headline show at the Eventim Apollo in London, coming to the tail end of her European tour. She’s been supported by the American artist, Medium Build. I attended this show in Hammersmith, and I can hand-on-heart say that it did not disappoint. Her show at the Apollo was incredible. The setlist was a perfect collection of old and new songs and she had a wonderfully charming stage presence that captivated the audience for the entire concert.
Holly has a fantastic talent for songwriting, as seen in her tracks, with some of my personal favourites being ‘Ghost Me’, ‘Into Your Room’, ‘Cocoon’, and ‘Scarlett’. Her lyrics are reminiscent of those by Phoebe Bridgers and Lorde, and she puts them to a unique-sounding alternative pop-rock soundtrack. She’s described her music as “self-exposing” and finds songwriting an “empowering” outlet for her emotions that enable her to connect with fans worldwide. She is able to find the balance between deep-cut ballad songs, such as ‘Kissing In Swimming Pools’ and ‘Haunted House’, and also the more upbeat indie pop and rock songs, like ‘Vanilla’ and ‘Lauren’, that still manage to pack an emotional punch.
Her songs discuss love, heartbreak, friendships, family, mental health, and often grapple with the feelings of girlhood in the 21st century which provides a very relatable soundtrack for many young people today. In 2022, she released her single ‘London is Lonely’, which details the feelings of isolation and overwhelmingness that she felt after moving to the big city – something that I know I definitely felt when I moved here too.
So, you might be wondering who Holly Humberstone is. Well, the 24-year-old Brit grew up in Lincolnshire and studied at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. She moved to London in 2019 to pursue her music career. She released her first single ‘Deep End’ in 2020, during the pandemic, followed later that year by her EP, Falling Asleep At The Wheel. After signing with Polydor Records, her second EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, came out in November 2021. In 2022, she released her debut album, Can You Afford To Lose Me?, which featured many of her hit singles such as ‘Overkill’ and ‘Friendly Fire’. Her sophomore album, Paint My Bedroom Black, came out in October 2023, peaking at number 5 in the UK charts. It featured the singles ‘Antichrist’, ‘Room Service’, and ‘Superbloodmoon’ featuring d4vd. She has also collaborated with other artists like Bombay Bicycle Club, MUNA, and Sam Fender.
In 2019, she was featured on the BBC Music Introducing stage at Glastonbury. Since then, she was awarded the Brit Award for Rising Star in 2022. Previous winners include Adele, Florence and the Machine, Tom Odell, and Jorja Smith, among many other successful musicians. She has performed across the world, supporting artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Girl in Red, as well as completing her own tours in Australia, Japan, Europe, and the UK. In May 2024, she will be embarking on a tour of the USA and Canada, before playing major UK festivals like Boardmasters, Truck, and Y Not, in July and August this year.
Recently she announced that she would be releasing some older songs that she has finished off in the form of an EP, with the lead single being ‘Dive’. Her newest EP, Work In Progress, was released on the 15th of March 2024.
Keep an eye out, because Holly Humberstone is proving that she is, and will continue to be, a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.