Holly Humberstone debuts 'Cruel World' in Brussels: A new chapter live
- Macarena Chocan
- 23 minutes ago
- 4 min read
By Macarena Chocan
At 21h00 sharp, the side stage door at AB Club in Brussels opened, and Holly Humberstone ran onto the stage, preceded by her keyboard and guitar player, Seth Tackaberry. Dressed in a white sheer blouse paired with a short, layered skirt, her look set a flowy, almost ethereal tone: a quiet prelude to the intimate performance that was about to unfold.
Holly Humberstone, a 26-year-old singer-songwriter from Grantham, UK, released her first single 'Deep End' in 2020, signing her first record deal shortly afterwards. Since then, she has been building an intimate, confessional, and cinematic world of her own, with songs such as 'Falling Asleep at the Wheel' (2020), 'The Walls Are Way Too Thin' (2021), and 'Paint My Bedroom Black' (2023) — the title track of her debut studio album, written “in pockets of time on the road” while touring.
In 2026, after a year and a half away from touring and releasing new music, Holly Humberstone is preparing to release her new album, 'Cruel World'. The record is inspired by a period of self-reflection, figuring out who she is in the present and how she wants to tell the next chapter of her story. She describes the album’s first single, 'Die Happy', released last November, as a “gothic love song,” influenced by her love of Tim Burton films. Ahead of the album’s release, Humberstone is hosting seven intimate shows across Europe, with the tour’s first stop taking place in Belgium, following her first appearance in the country in pre-COVID times as a supporting act for Lewis Capaldi.
Last night, the crowd was mostly made up of young women, some of them dressed in outfits inspired by Holly’s aesthetic for this new era. Around thirty of her most dedicated fans queued early on a particularly cold day in Brussels, and their commitment was rewarded: they were invited inside ahead of time to take part in a small friendship-necklace workshop, the same kind of handmade charms later seen hanging from Holly’s guitar.
The evening opened with an acoustic set from Woody, a London-raised indie-pop singer-songwriter whose sound draws clear inspiration from Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Fleetwood Mac. Introducing the set, he mentioned that this was his first show outside the UK, before filling the room with sweet, heart-warming small-town-vibe songs and encouraging the crowd to lift the mood. “This one is about sipping beer with your friends at the pub,” he said, before finishing his set with 'Over n’ Out'. Thirty minutes later, Holly Humberstone took the stage, opening the show with 'To Love Somebody', the second single from her soon-to-be-released new record, and, personally, my favorite song from this new era. 'Paint My Bedroom Black' followed, and the crowd burst into excitement, passionately singing along to every word.
“How are you doing tonight, Brussels? Thank you so much for being here. This is my first show in three years,” she said, before adding, “We’re going to play you a bunch of old songs and a couple of new ones. This is scary... We’ll see how it goes.” The evening indeed saw her alternate between older hits such as 'The Walls Are Way Too Thin', 'Into Your Room', 'Scarlett', 'Deep End', and 'Kissing at the Swimming Pool', Holly’s personal favorite from her last album (during which two girls at the front answered her call for lyrics by shouting, “You are pretty!”) while also treating the audience to new songs. 'Lucy', a lullaby written for her sister, reflects on her move to London and the struggle of being a young woman in the modern world. The line “You want to act your shoe size and not your age” sparked smiles across the room, from twenty-something girls to women in their thirties, as Holly captured, with striking clarity, how a new generation of women is feeling in 2026. Before performing 'White Noise', Holly explained that the song was inspired by watching the series Wednesday: “I wanted to write a pop song that sounded fun but had this sad undertone — like crying in the club, mascara running down your face kind of vibe... which I feel is my speciality,” she said, before adding with a sneaky smile, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.” The acoustic version of 'Die Happy' sent shivers down the room. The emotion was palpable, the crowd falling suddenly silent, and for a moment it felt impossible not to be moved.
The set also included the album’s title track, 'Cruel World' — which she described as “a song about the perception of your whole world changing because someone is missing” — accompanied by the announcement that its music video will be released in March. Another standout moment came with 'Beauty Pageant', her most vulnerable song to date, co-written with the evening’s supporting act Woody. Visibly nervous, Holly admitted that it “has to be sung eventually.” Before closing the night with 'Dive' and announcing she would return in a few months with a full band, Holly thanked the Brussels crowd warmly, calling it the best night she had had in a long time. There was no encore... but it wasn’t needed. In just ninety minutes, she had said everything she needed to say about who she is at this new stage of her life.
Macarena Chocan
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