“Even if you’re having one of the worst days of your life, you can end it in a better place by watching a beautiful sunset – the sky is always there for you,” says Mexican singer/songwriter HUMBE as he discusses the concept behind DUEÑO DEL CIELO (“Master of the Sky”), his remarkable new album. “This record invites listeners to reinvent themselves. When everything you knew has burnt to the ground, it’s time to change the way you contemplate life.”

These are heady concepts for a 24-year-old artist from Monterrey who began playing the piano at his grandmother’s house when he was only nine. Then again, there is nothing ordinary about HUMBE, an alternative pop genius and one of the most poetic voices of his generation.

He was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY in the Best New Artist category when he was 22. Now fully independent, he releases music on his own label PARASIEMPRE.wav Records. His previous album, ARMAGEDÓN, included the dreamy “KINTSUGI,” a massive hit with over 115 million Spotify streams. And in December, he will officially present DUEÑO DEL CIELO at the 26,000 capacity Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City.

“It’s the best record that I’ve ever made,” he enthuses. “It embodies my entire lifetime; so many memories and experiences. For the first time, I decided to write a full collection of songs focusing on my own emotional journey.

An expansive double album featuring 22 tracks that were initially recorded in the Icelandic countryside, DUEÑO DEL CIELO feels like a sprawling movie, from the hazy orchestral shimmer of opening cut “LUZ DE LUNA” to the oceanic languor of “MORFINA,” the collection’s appropriately epic – and incredibly vulnerable – finale.

 

The collection also marks the end of a conceptual trilogy that HUMBE began with 2023’s ESENCIA and continued with 2024’s darkly hued ARMAGEDÓN.

“ESENCIA was an album that celebrated nature, the very essence of life,” he explains. “Not coincidentally, it begins with a song called ‘mamá.’ It’s like a planet filled with trees and lush vegetation – a literal utopia. On ARMAGEDÓN, you see a shooting star approaching the planet, but soon realize that the star is actually a meteorite, meant to wreak havoc and obliterate the planet. This lovely star turning into a deadly meteorite represents a romantic relationship that can suddenly flip around and demolish everything you constructed.”

Not all is lost in HUMBE’s symbolic cosmovision, which brings us to the theme of DUEÑO DEL CIELO as a message of reconstruction.

“Visually, I imagine a planet that has nothing left to offer except for ashes and mountains,” he says. “And in the midst of so much loneliness, you look up and come face to face with the sky: the clouds, the sunsets. When everything around you has collapsed, you can only look upward; you become a master of the sky.”

The concept of reinvention – of looking for new horizons – was also present in the more mundane aspects of the recording process. It all started at a sushi dinner in Mexico, where HUMBE, his brothers and collaborators talked about the prospect of recording an album in Iceland while everyone was still young and unmarried.

“We booked the Airbnb during that same dinner,” he laughs. “It was located two hours away from Reykjavik, a gorgeous place where the only food available was at a café that had the most delicious chicken tenders. So we had a house, our equipment, a fridge full of beer and the chicken tenders. And we made this record.”

On songs like the sumptuous “HARRY STAMPER,” with its silky combination of orchestral textures and synthetic beats, HUMBE’s vocals sound more at ease with himself than ever before.

“It’s the track that best showcases my singing,” he admits. “Not because I have a powerful voice, but because it feels free. It’s a playful song in the best sense possible, and it makes me feel like I’m at a late night bohemian gathering with my friends.”

He also showcases an eclectic stylistic palette, experimenting with bachata on the bouncy “VEGAS,” where the musical component retreats gently to the back of the mix – a radical innovation that spotlights HUMBE’s wounded vocals as the song’s undeniable protagonist.

“I wanted this album to feel like a dance between myself and my inner world,” he explains. “When I listened to the initial mixes, I was a bit surprised that the music was so low, but then I understood that it’s all part of the magic. It’s like I’m onstage singing, and the orchestra is playing outside the venue. I love having fun with the process like that. I try to think out of the box, step out of my comfort zone.”

Now that he is ready to share this magnum opus with his millions of fans, HUMBE is experiencing feelings of disbelief. He is having a hard time processing that he had such a majestic, ambitious record in him.

“It’s not only the end of a trilogy, it’s the beginning of a new era for everything that I carry with me in lyrical and sonic terms,” he says. “To this very moment, I simply cannot believe that this record is coming out under my name. I took the time to grow creatively, spend some months in Iceland and do nothing except make music, venture out on long walks and connect with nature. I believe the music on this album will be a huge part of me for the rest of my life.”