It’s Holly Humberstone’s Cruel World & We’re Just Living In It

Holly Humberstone is pretty sure she’s gotten away with something. “I love touring so much. I can easily see why people would hate it, but I can't really believe that I get to do it and that it's my job,” the 26-year-old singer-songwriter tells me on Zoom from her London flat, where she's just come inside from working in her garden. “I feel as if I've played the system somehow.”

It's the kind of perspective that makes a stacked summer of festival appearances feel like a gift instead of a grind. Humberstone has Governor’s Ball, All Things Go, and Bonnaroo on the books, and she's about to take her second studio album, Cruel World, all the way around the festival circuit. Since the album dropped on April 10, she’s previewed it everywhere from Coachella to BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and the festival run is about to be her biggest stretch yet. “All of this album was written here in London whilst having serious festival FOMO over last summer,” Humberstone says. “It's a confusing feeling releasing music and being here at home, trying to gauge the reaction from people online.”

On stage, she’ll get to see how her new project resonates with listeners. “The real gratification comes from being with people who connect to me and are going through the same stuff, and that’s what this album’s written for,” she says. Plus, she’ll get the added benefit of seeing other artists she loves when her sets wrap up. “Geese is right after me at Gov Ball, and I need to see them. I tried so hard at Coachella, but it was packed and I couldn't get in,” Humberstone says. When I ask about her set time at the New York festival, she jokes, “I don't even know when I’m playing. I only care about Geese.” (She takes the stage on Sunday, June 7, at 3:15 p.m., for anyone wondering.)

From festival setlists to the visuals, Humberstone has a lot in store for the summer ahead. Below, she shares what fans can expect, plus what she's learned from touring with big names like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.

Elite Daily: You’re getting ready to head out for a long summer of touring. What does a regular day look like when you're on the road?

HH: A day in the life would be waking up in a new city, probably around midday. No shame in that. I’m trying to weave in some form of exercise, because I'm not very good at self-discipline. I’ll try my best to find some wholesome food, then do a soundcheck, then get ready for the show and play it. Then afterward, I’ll probably have some beers, depending on whether we have a show the next day or a travel day.

ED: Do you have any items that you can't travel without?

HH: I have a teddy with me at all times. I’m a 26-year-old woman and I still need a teddy that smells like my bed. I also think the atmosphere backstage is super important, and sometimes dressing rooms can stink like feet, so I try to bring something that smells nice. I've been into these MUJI incense sticks at the moment. A cute outfit is also important because if I like the way I look, I think I perform better.

ED: You're doing a mixture of festivals and standalone shows this summer. What’s different about those two types of live shows?

HH: I love both for different reasons. When it's my own show, I feel pressure to make it worth it for people who traveled or spent money on tickets. But also, everybody is there because they connect with the music, and I don't feel like I have to win anybody over. I can relax a little more and order the songs in a way that tells a story.

With a festival, the stakes are lower because nobody's really expecting anything. The whole point of doing a festival is to get people on board who might not already be aware of my music. So I'm focused on putting as much energy into this short amount of time as I can, and playing the songs that people are going to connect to easily.

A lot of the looks for the tour are going to be very fairytale, Victorian feeling — lots of lace, lots of little details, very girly and romantic.

ED: You released Cruel World in April, so you have a lot of new music to perform live right now. Which songs are you most excited to play?

HH: The one song that I've been the most excited and nervous to sing is “Beauty Pageant.” It's the final track of the album, and it's probably the most vulnerable I've ever been about the pressure I put on myself. A lot of the things I talk about are really embarrassing to admit — how it's natural for us to compare ourselves to other people, this constant need for validation, and what being online can do to our perception of ourselves. It feels like the biggest obstacle in the set, but also the most rewarding to get to sing.

ED: A lot of your songs, like “Beauty Pageant,” are super emotionally intimate. What’s it like playing those in front of big festival crowds that are easily distracted?

HH: It's interesting how different crowds react. I played “Beauty Pageant” at a festival in the U.K. called BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, which is a radio-run festival, so people were there for bangers that you can dance to in the sun. This song felt like a vulnerable moment amongst that, and it was cool to see people just go with it. It has a musical theater-y storytelling narrative to it, and I could see people listening to the story and where it was going.

ED: The fairytale aesthetic of this album is so beautiful. Can you give a teaser for what you have planned visually for the shows this summer?

HH: Yes, I've been having so much fun. A lot of the looks for the tour are going to be very fairytale, Victorian feeling — lots of lace, lots of little details, very girly and romantic. I’ve been inspired by stuff that I loved as a kid and rediscovered by going back home to my childhood home, including fairytales like the Brothers Grimm.

There are also a lot of antique pieces sourced from amazing dealers and curators. Some of these corsets I can't get into because they were made for Victorian women who had their ribs crushed. I'm a pretty small girl, but these things do not go on me sometimes, but we make it work. I love wearing vintage pieces because I feel like they hold magic.

ED: You’re not just touring the festival circuit these days — you just got announced as an opener for Gracie Abrams early next year! How are you feeling about that?

HH: I’m so gassed. I'm obsessed with Gracie. I was genuinely a day one Gracie fan. I remember before she released any music, I would just be on Instagram listening to the little clips that she'd post.

It's a really, really exciting time to be a woman in music because we're completely dominating all pockets of the industry.

ED: You've opened for a lot of big artists, like Olivia Rodrigo on the Sour Tour and Taylor Swift at Wembley Stadium. What did you take away from working with those women?

HH: One of my first big tours was supporting Girl In Red around North America, and then straight off the back of that, we went into supporting Olivia on the Sour Tour. I was 22 and was like, “What is my life? I get to see these amazing parts of the world whilst also getting to support two of my absolute favorite artists.” Also, getting to support Taylor was insane.

It's a really, really exciting time to be a woman in music because we're completely dominating all pockets of the industry. I'm endlessly inspired by my peers, and one thing that I've learned is that there's no need to try and be anybody but myself. All of these amazing women are so confident in who they are and the stories that they have to tell. It sounds really obvious, but it was a real revelation for me.

ED: What's the biggest way your life has changed since you started releasing music in 2020?

HH: The fact that I get to do this as a job is a crazy concept. I grew up in the middle of nowhere writing music, dreaming maybe one day that this could happen. The industry can be very all-consuming, and I have to constantly remind myself that I'm doing what I always dreamt of doing. My songwriting process has also changed quite a lot. Writing songs on my own at my parents’ house, nobody was there to critique them. Once people have an idea of how your work should sound, you second-guess a lot more, which has probably made me a better writer but can also be extremely unhelpful and counterproductive.

Over the past few years, my mindset and priorities have shifted. I’m accepting that life is chaotic and there’s no way of controlling it, and you’ve just got to roll with what it throws at you. Who knows what the future holds? If this is all I get to do, I’ve had a great time and I’ve been extremely blessed.

ED: Well, hopefully we'll get more Holly Humberstone albums in the future. I believe it.

HH: Hopefully. I'm feeling pretty great right now. This album represents me more than anything I’ve released before, because I had time to gather stories and exist as a human being outside of being an artist. I’m proud of it and that's all that should matter, and it's really cool to get to share it with people.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.