Holly Humberstone says she rejected labels’ efforts to make her the next ‘crazy famous pop thing’

Artist says she was paired with co-writers who ‘want to get a “banger” out of it’

After Holly Humberstone broke out with pandemic hits “Deep End” and “Falling Asleep At The Wheel”, it seemed like the Lincolnshire singer-songwriter was destined for super-stardom.

However, her new album, Paint My Bedroom Black, rejects mainstream pop rhythms in favour of the grungey, alt-pop sound she became known for.

In a new interview with Variety, Humberstone reveals that she was sent on songwriting trips to Los Angeles in efforts to make her “the next big, crazy famous pop thing”.

Instead, the co-writing sessions left the 23-year-old artist feeling like “an imposter and outsider”.

“I’d done a bunch of writing sessions, all with lovely people, but writing is my most personal thing and trying to share that with strangers that want to get a ‘banger’ out of it just really wasn’t great for me,” she said.

“I had this interview a few days ago which really spun me out, and this guy listened to my album and he was like, ‘I’d predicted you to be the next big, crazy famous pop thing.’ And I was like, ‘Well, I never said that was what I cared about.’

“I was thinking about that for a long time, being like, ‘I have to bet on myself and be in competition with myself to get to the next stage,’ but it was not making me very happy. And the songs sounded like s*** pop songs.”

Holly Humberstone (Getty Images)

Citing fellow indie crooner Phoebe Bridgers as inspiration, Humberstone stated her ambitions of remaining unrestrained creatively.

“So many artists seem to have their sound so nailed and their little universe so down to a tee. And I feel literally different today than to how I went to sleep yesterday,” she said. “I’m still trying to figure out the world and where I belong in it all and how I want to present myself. I’d really love to have a long career for myself to just keep doing my thing and not try to be somebody fake.”

In her three-star review for The Independent, Helen Brown writes that Paint My Bedroom Black “sees Humberstone continuing to channel her sloshing moods into sweet alt-pop grooves”.

“Humberstone’s emotions smudge into the similar-sounding synth beds like so much cried-off mascara,” she adds. “Although she’s got the makings of a great songwriter, she needs to push the sounds into sharper corners to give her narratives more distinctive definition. Because this album delivers many shades of grey but never the promised punch of black.”

Paint My Bedroom Black is out now.