Live Review Holly Humberstone, Omeara, London 16th August, 2021

After 18 months of releasing critically-acclaimed bops, and fronting hype lists, Holly Humberstone has spent lockdown becoming a must-see star, despite the fact that there was no real opportunity to do said seeing.

“I find it so hard to believe that I actually have fans because I haven’t seen these people ever!” she told us back in April. “It will be really scary but really, really cool when stuff opens up again and I can go and do live performances and meet people. I’m gonna be a next level anxious wreck but it’ll be really fun!”

However kicking off last week with a string of sold-out headline shows at London’s Omeara, the “anxious wreck” Holly is nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a star-in-the-making living up to her hype and then some.

Armed with a cup of tea and various instruments, Holly’s one-woman show sees her commanding the stage with the effortless and ease that normally takes years to master. Gliding between set-ups, she dazzles with gems from last year’s ‘Falling Asleep At The Wheel’ EP as well as teasing her recently announced follow-up EP ‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’.

Particular spellbinding moments come in the form of ‘Haunted House’, performed under a spotlight at the piano, which has the audience in dead silence as Holly’s pristine vocals ring out through the intimate venue, before new track ‘Scarlett’ brings the vibes and glistens with the promise to be Holly’s next big banger.

Other highlights come with big hitters ‘Drop Dead’ and ‘Deep End’, alongside new song ‘Room Service’, written only weeks before, which sees Holly bringing up her frequent collaborator Rob Milton to wow with some harmonies, pausing only momentarily to reset notes mid-song.

Unsurprisingly, synth-fuelled Matty Healy co-write and certified bop ‘Please Don’t Leave Just Yet’ also impresses and ‘Falling Asleep At The Wheel’’s iconic opening line instantly conjures a sing-a-long.

A goosebump-inducing set from start to finish, with Holly’s only indication that she knows she’s killing it coming with her affirmation of “sick” or “cool” after finishing every track, her star potential is blazing brighter than ever.