Holly Humberstone’s Fairy Tale Arrives at Its Final Chapter in LA
Los Angeles, California - June 29, 2026
Finding a place of retreat in Holly Humberstone’s discography comes easily. She doesn’t just invite you into her home. Instead, she pulls you into her inner universe, where rolling hills reach for the sky in deep longing, and swans float along a palatial lake so vast and peaceful that you begin to believe there’s hope beyond heartache.
Humberstone’s recent release, Cruel World, soars with familiar pop melodies that know nothing apart from brilliance. She shows up on her second studio album as she always has, brimming with the confidence and sincerity that shaped her previous projects.
Garnering critical acclaim for her introspective songwriting, Humberstone hands the pen over to the magic of childhood nostalgia in her newest record. What came out of the process was a rich illustration of her transition into womanhood as she learned to navigate its growing pains and ultimately embrace them. Her live set would unfold with a similar thematic precision as she weaves in and out of her personal recounts of love, despair, and hope like chapters in a storybook, wiping away any sense of time for the audience.
Opening the night was Brooklyn-based artist Leyla Ebrahimi, who sits at the intersection of indie fuzz and alternative rock. She doesn’t let genres restrict her, however, embracing fluidity as part of her newfound journey as a musician. There’s an explosive element to her songs, especially in her latest single, “I’m Sorry Maria,” which she brings to the stage with a desire to showcase who she is not only as a musician, but as a person. While committing to music full-time just recently, she finds firm footing in front of a crowd, and you can tell she’s blossoming into the artist she wants to become.
Three booming clock chimes reminiscent of Cinderella’s expired spell signaled the start of the evening fairy tale this time around. Emerging into a blue oasis was a beaming Humberstone as the creeping orchestral strings in “So It Starts…” gave way to “Make It All Better,” an unashamed proclamation of wanting loyal love that lasts beyond faded tattoos and stretchy skin. Swelling synths swirled around her lovesick soliloquies while the clarity of her vocals sounded as close to the studio recording as you could imagine.
Embracing the humanity behind love and loss warmly anchors Humberstone’s music, a palpable feeling when brought to a stage. The euphoric anthem “To Love Somebody” is clearly the driving thesis not only of the record, but of the heart behind her music. “It all breaks down, it always does / It all works out, it always does,” she sings in the ascending verses. There’s a certainty behind the words she says, a dependable assuredness that makes believing it irresistible.
She continues down the trail of dark pop to reach the next stage of the relationship: until death do us part. “How am I supposed to breathe without you, babe?” she lightly pleads to the crowd in “Cruel World.” The dichotomy between desire and demise sits behind playful instrumentation that almost masks the dire state of want. It’s when Humberstone trades the mic for a deep cherry acoustic guitar for “Die Happy” that she speaks directly to the lover girls who are in it until the end: “And if we crash and kiss the dash, baby, tragically / To die with you is to, to die happy.” A stripped-down “Kissing In Swimming Pools” off her project, Paint My Bedroom Black, sinks further into the moody atmosphere with a yearning-fueled ballad: “So, can we kiss in your swimming pool? / In this bathing suit, I would die for you.”
While the new record steers most of the night, Humberstone takes a detour at the center of the setlist to perform deeper cuts, including her first-ever release, “Deep End.” “I feel like it always just reminds me how lucky I am to get to do this,” she reminisced before playing the track. “It’s a special song for me for so many reasons. I remember it coming out, being at home in the Midlands in the UK with my parents and have only ever dreamt of getting to do this as a career. It didn’t really seem quite fathomable coming from the middle of nowhere in the UK. I just have to remind myself how sick it is. I get to play this song to you now in fucking Hollywood. I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” she gushed.
If “White Noise” is the pregame after a breakup, “Drunk Dialing” is the prerogative call on a night out. “This next one is about crying in the club,” Humberstone shared about “White Noise.” “I actually wrote this one here in the States, and it was the last song off my new album to be written. By this point, we had the whole album. But then we were like, ‘Fuck it, let’s just have some fun and make something that sounds like something you would want to dance to in the club.’” The snappy serenades of both songs prompted communal swaying, which would be wrong to do any less. Humberstone’s vocals seemed to glisten the brightest in these moments. She never sings at the crowd throughout the set, but rather alongside them.
Either party was ready to say goodbye, but Humberstone sends off the last night of her tour with a two-song closer: a sweet ode to her little sister with “Lucy,” and the electropop-inspired earworm, “Scarlett.”
Just like listening to Cruel World from top to bottom, the night never hit a lull. Humberstone’s final show shines through its well-crafted, well-cared-for setlist and an enchanting stage presence that made the audience and her feel like one.
