Album of The Month

Holly Humberstone’s sophomore album, Cruel World, is a hauntingly beautiful evolution from 2023’s Paint My Bedroom Black. Moving away from the displacement of her debut, Humberstone finds a new, fixed perspective within a "dark fairytale" of her own making—one where childhood memories, gothic romance, and modern anxieties collide. Lead singles like "To Love Somebody" and the title track "Cruel World" showcase her trademark forensic songwriting, but with a grander, more theatrical scope. Drawing visual and sonic cues from Victorian theatre, Nosferatu, and the Brothers Grimm, the record explores the delicate tension between pain and pleasure, proving that in Holly’s world, the most beautiful moments are often the ones that hurt the most.