Holly Humberstone has unveiled “To Love Somebody,” the first single from her newly announced second album Cruel World. The confessional track arrived alongside news that Cruel World — the follow-up to Humberstone’s 2023 debut Paint My Bedroom Black — will be released on April 10. “To Love Somebody” finds the singer-songwriter delving into the intense highs and lows of romance, laying bare the idea that love and pain often go hand in hand. Its release was accompanied by a haunting music video directed by Silken Weinberg, which places Humberstone in a dark fairytale setting.
Humberstone explained that the single captures the emotional push-and-pull central to her new album’s theme. “In ‘To Love Somebody,’ I wanted to capture that contradiction: to love somebody is to hurt somebody – and to lose somebody… at least you got to love somebody,” she shared in a statement. “In order to feel extreme happiness, you have to know extreme sadness. That’s the tension of the record.” Those raw sentiments are reflected in her impassioned vocals and the song’s swelling, melancholic melody. As she gears up for the release of Cruel World, “To Love Somebody” sets the stage for an album that bravely explores heartbreak and healing.
