Singer Holly Humberstone Opens Up About Moving Past Her Childhood Home and Writing Her New Album

Singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone reveals she experienced weekly identity crises after her parents sold her childhood home in Lincolnshire and moved to Wales last year, taking her pets with them. The freezing cold property outside of Grantham inspired her early EPs and her indie-leaning pop sound, and she dedicated her 2021 single Haunted House to the spirits living there. Packing up 23 years of family belongings left her feeling uprooted and forced her to throw away her past.

New Album

She poured these difficult feelings into her second album, Cruel World, which entered the UK charts at number four earlier this year. The record features tracks like To Love Somebody, written to comfort her sister during a break-up, and Die Happy. The closing track, Beauty Pageant, addresses the impossible beauty standards placed on female artists and her own struggles with wanting applause.

Context

Artists often draw heavily on their personal lives, childhood memories, and major life changes when creating new music. Relocating from a long-time family home can be a major emotional disruption, which frequently influences an artist's creative direction and song lyrics.