AFor some time now, the profession, pop stardom, has been in an existential crisis. It used to be simple – a hit single was the only real qualification – but in a post-monocultural world, job titles are often given in bits and pieces as a result of greater success: a British Rising Star award and a Taylor Swift support slot here, 4 million monthly Spotify listeners and a Top 5 album there.
This, in particular, is the CV of Lincolnshire’s Holly Humberstone, who has established herself in the pop sphere without troubling the singles charts. While not an undeniable banger the 26-year-old has, her sound is impeccably chart-friendly. Like Swift, Humberstone delivers deeply verbose lyrics in an intimate, almost-ASMR tone decorated with a flood of hooks over ’80s synth-pop. For this second album, they have given a hint of the Gothic gloom that came with their debut album, Paint My Bedroom Black. Cruel World borders on euphoric: the exceptionally sunny break-up anthem To Love Somebody is driven by a stadium-ready pre-chorus, while the brilliantly catchy White Noise plugs into nostalgic naff disco to channel royal-phase Kylie.
Despite the odd cheesy line – “I’m gonna shake my ass to this shitty song,” she warns on Drunk Dialing – the production is generally knowable and good (especially the happy hardcore breakdown that ends it as Make It All Better). With his diligent approach to crowd-pleasing tunes, it’s hard to think of a reason why Humberstone shouldn’t have a long career as a pop star – perhaps in the old sense as well as the new.
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