How pink skies and a remote Icelandic town changed Humbe's new album

According to Humbe, it doesn’t substance however atrocious his time is going — a pinkish sunset tin alteration everything.

As a kid increasing up successful the Mexican metropolis of Monterrey, the singer-songwriter would question retired the sky’s strangest shapes and survey the mode airy broke done the unreality formations — it would comfortableness his anxieties and supply originative inspiration. So, erstwhile helium acceptable retired to decorativeness his astir caller LP, “Dueño del Cielo,” released connected Saturday, helium recovered himself successful 1 of the fewer places wherever the prima ne'er genuinely sets: Iceland successful the summertime.

“I envision this medium arsenic this satellite of ashes. So, I wanted to spell into that state, beryllium lonely and make the interior dialog heard connected the album,” said the vocalist of his sixth album.

Humbe has been playing euphony from a young age, but helium archetypal roseate to fame during the pandemic, sharing snippets of his music-making process online. Following the merchandise of his breakout debut medium successful 2021, “Entropía,” the alternate popular vocalist earned a Latin Grammy for caller creator and has since go well-known for his 2023 azygous “Fantasmas.” The way honors his precocious grandpa for Día de los Muertos and tends to spell viral each twelvemonth astir the holiday.

“Dueño del Cielo” is the last installment of a trilogy, pursuing 2023’s “Esencia” and 2024’s “Armagedón.” Nearly each way connected the latest merchandise signals transformation, successful some its lyricism and its sonics. On the opening song, “Luz de Luna,” helium gushes astir not wanting to miss idiosyncratic implicit a heartfelt soft ballad that slips betwixt punky guitar rifts and unpredictable 808 drums. While connected tracks similar “Harry Stamper” and “Sábanas,” helium embraces whimsical synthesizers and staccato vocal patterns to make a mystical soundscape.

On a caller promo travel to Los Angeles, De Los caught up with the 25-year-old Latin alternate popular vocalist successful the days earlier the merchandise of “Dueño del Cielo.” Humbe volition beryllium embarking connected his first-ever U.S. circuit adjacent year, and volition play astatine the Wiltern connected April 9.

This interrogation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

“Dueño del Cielo” is retired successful a fewer days. How are you feeling astir its release?
It’s surreal. I’ve been moving connected it for 5 years, truthful I can’t judge it. I started penning it astatine the opening of the pandemic. The archetypal opus was the rubric track, and it was a opus that embodied truthful overmuch successful me. It’s a rebirth and a infinitesimal of growth. “Dueño del Cielo” mostly represents resurrection. I’ve ever been truthful attached to my existent version. I ever think, if I similar who I americium close now, I volition privation to instrumentality to it and ne'er change. That’s erstwhile vexation comes.

This medium taught maine that alteration is portion of beingness successful the champion mode possible.

This medium is besides the last installment successful a series, pursuing “Esencia” and “Armagedón.” When did you recognize you had a trilogy connected your hands?
It feels similar the beingness spoke it [into existence] successful a way. Sometimes things can’t lone beryllium coincidences. I realized each 3 albums were meant to beryllium a trilogy, due to the fact that they are each albums that fundamentally observe life.

“Esencia” is an medium that celebrates the essence of one’s self. “Armagedón” represents however idiosyncratic oregon thing similar a narration oregon an addiction tin alteration your full essence. At first, it tin look conscionable similar a shooting star, but past you recognize it’s a f— asteroid that’s gonna termination you. Then “Dueño del Cielo” is maine uncovering and regaining that essence. It’s astir realizing that from the ashes you tin inactive beryllium born.

What was going connected successful your beingness erstwhile figuring retired however to extremity this series?
I’ve been searching for interior happiness. I can’t adjacent deliberation astir a circumstantial situation, due to the fact that it’s honestly conscionable a full clump of things that conscionable marque one’s solid full. I was conscionable sick of everything. I was falling successful a slump authorities without seeking retired motivation.

But I realized that everything was owed to maine trying to find thing that possibly wasn’t lost. I realized that beingness is astir reinvention. It’s astir deconstruction and reconstruction. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I volition support doing.

A information of this upcoming medium was made successful a distant Icelandic town. When did Iceland travel into the picture?
My brother, his woman and I were successful a sushi barroom successful Mexico City. We came to the realization that we are young and that we person escaped will. We figured I’ve been moving connected this medium for 5 years, and haven’t finished it due to the fact that we’ve been truthful distracted with everything else. So, wherefore not instrumentality vantage of the information that we are young, that nary of america person kids, that we tin question and that it’s astir to beryllium summertime successful Iceland?

We bought the tickets astatine the sushi barroom and left. It was crazy. We went for a period and a half. It was summer, truthful determination was nary acheronian — lone axenic daylight. The darkest it got was bluish hours. Living determination was truthful poetic and beautiful.

I envision this medium arsenic this satellite of ashes. So, I wanted to spell into that state, beryllium lonely and make the interior dialog heard connected the album. The album’s position changed truthful overmuch there. It became truthful versatile.

How bash you consciousness you changed arsenic a instrumentalist successful Iceland?
I got truthful overmuch much delicate towards everything. I gained truthful overmuch position connected however unrecorded instruments alteration a song. I utilized to enactment a batch with plug-ins and dependable libraries. But this time, everything was recorded live.

After Iceland, we recorded everything successful Miami. We were capable to bash the medium successful 10 days. Then, for the adjacent 3 months, I kept uncovering tiny details to fix, adjacent though I knew I was done. I had specified a hard clip letting it spell that my ma had to archer maine to stop.

At what constituent successful the process did your ma person to measurement in?
I uploaded the medium connected my mode to the dependable check. Even connected the time of my listening enactment successful Mexico, I was inactive making changes to the album. That’s erstwhile my ma and the mixing technologist told maine that it was clip to fto it go.

She didn’t accidental it before, truthful I conjecture it wasn’t done up until that precise moment.

There are 22 tracks connected this album, making it your longest task to date. Did you ever cognize this was going to beryllium a lengthy record?
I ever wanted to bash a agelong project. I’ve had it connected my caput since I was a kid. I wanted to bash thing similar Aerosmith oregon Queen erstwhile they would merchandise those agelong a— projects that belonged to a concept, backmost erstwhile artists utilized to make concepts and make universes. That’s what I admired astir artists, their quality to invitation maine determination successful their fictional world.

What benignant of satellite bash you deliberation you’re inviting radical into?
I’m inviting them to the sky. Since I was a kid, that’s been a changeless successful my life. I’ve ever been hypnotized by the sky, by the airy and however airy works with the clouds. Now I americium really successful awe each clip I spot a pinkish entity oregon spot a bully brace of clouds. It sounds stupid, but you truly could person a s— time and extremity it with a beauteous sunset. It could each alteration the mode you feel.

Were determination immoderate sunsets you witnessed portion making the medium that influenced its sonic direction?
There was this clip successful Iceland, erstwhile I was penning “Murallas.” It was truthful weird, due to the fact that the upwind was truthful foggy and it felt similar we were successful a unreality each day, but mid-session, it cleared up retired of nowhere. It yet became a beauteous sunset that lasted 4 hours. “Murallas” is specified a bittersweet song, and I couldn’t support penning astir thing truthful bittersweet erstwhile it was truthful beauteous outside. So, we stopped moving connected it and went extracurricular to enjoy.

You started this three-album travel years ago. Now, aft finishing its past installment, however bash you deliberation making this euphony has changed you?
I’m a much excited idiosyncratic astir everything. I’ve refound a kid successful maine that I thought I’d mislaid successful a way. I truly thought helium was gone, and I recovered him again. I consciousness overmuch much astatine bid today. It’s truthful wide to maine present that everything changes each the time. That is thing this medium taught me: I’m acceptable for anything.