Lately, there seems to be a very noticeable disconnect between the aesthetic artistry of rising pop artists and the actual sonic impacts of their music: Gracie Abrams famously offers up underbaked vocals in combination with lush, Aaron Dessner production, Maisie Peters is attempting to rebrand her bubblegum pop into meaningful folk, and Holly Humberstone is—wait… what exactly is Holly Humberstone doing?

Fresh off her hypnotic cover of Cat Stevens’s “Wild World” for Like a Version, it seemed like Humberstone finally figured out a tangible artistic direction for her career. She had spent two albums singing incredibly self-seriously about subjects that perhaps did not warrant such severity—likely a symptom of spending too much time under the wing of one Sam Fender. It now seemed like she was in the mood to try something new, and the lead single off her third project, “Die Happy”, was something really promising. Not only was the songwriting some of Humberstone’s best, the production also moved beyond that self-serious, acoustic drone, instead presenting lyrics bathed in lush synths and strings. Proceeding “Die Happy” were “To Love Somebody” and title track “Cruel World”, both of which continued this upward trend of pop music that was unafraid to be exactly that—pop music. 

The marked improvements in Humberstone’s artistry weren’t only sonic. Her art direction also observed a massive improvement between albums. With the release of “Die Happy”, the singer established herself as a decidedly visual artist, accompanying her songs with some truly field-leading music videos and photoshoots. Humberstone had embraced a sort of high concept Tim-Burton’s-Alice-in-Wonderland-adjacent look, never seen without a perfectly styled outfit or aesthetically aligned makeup. She was becoming something of a real pop music weapon, and it seemed like she had suddenly burst through the ceiling of her potential in only a few months after struggling to find her niche for so long.

When her full third album finally released, however, it quickly became apparent that Humberstone hadn’t broken free from her artistic ambiguity but had simply released a few swan songs before dissolving into it altogether. The rest of Cruel World—outside of the three singles already mentioned—is thoroughly misconceived, to such an extent that relistening to it for the purposes of this review proved a distinct challenge. A challenge borne not only from the subpar quality of the music itself, but also from the sour taste provided to me by the resounding failure of the stocks I had placed in Humberstone.

Each track sees its own distinct issues, but the overarching problem with the album is the exact same discrepancy that plagued Humberstone’s first two albums—her stubborn insistence on self-seriousness despite lacking both the personal and artistic facilities to justify it. There’s a real intensity in Humberstone’s production that she has never truly been able to keep up with, as observed in tracks like “Red Chevvy” and “Blue Dream”, where the singer is drowned out by the scale of her instrumentation. Humberstone is combining genres in a fashion that only serves to accentuate the flaw in her artistry. Where “To Love Somebody” thrived in its distinct pop sensibilities, “Lucy” falls flat in its hollow pastiche of ukelele-driven 2014-bedroom pop. 

The closing track, “Beauty Pageant”, exemplifies the problems that unfortunately seem to follow this release at every turn. Accompanied with a lavish, high-concept music video that represents the very best of Humberstone’s recent aesthetic ingenuity, the track itself leaves much to be desired. The opening line of the song’s chorus, “Too young / Too sad / Too young to give a damn,” is a decidedly feeble attempt at musical honesty, and it sticks out as a key moment of forced emotional expression that lacks any real depth or bite. At no point in this album does Humberstone provide a lyrical justification for all her woe, blaming a vague societal/male entity for her ongoing mental anguish. 

All the pieces are in place for Humberstone. With a seemingly endless budget from a management team that clearly believes in her artistry, all the singer needs now is a cohesive and individual musical vision. The misfires of Cruel World prove that Humberstone can no longer coast by on her edge, and that her sound requires some definite resharpening before her next go-around.