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

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According to Humbe, it doesn’t matter how bad his day is going — a pink sunset can change everything.As a kid growing up in the Mexican metropolis of Monterrey, the singer-songwriter would seek out the sky’s strangest shapes and study the way light broke through the cloud formations — it would comfort his anxieties and provide creative inspiration.So, when he set out to finish his most recent LP, “Dueño del Cielo,” released on Saturday, he found himself in one of the few places where the sun never truly sets: Iceland in the summertime.“I envision this album as this planet of ashes.

So, I wanted to go into that state, be lonely and create the inner dialogue heard on the album,” said the singer of his sixth album.Humbe has been playing music from a young age, but he first rose to fame during the pandemic, sharing snippets of his music-making process online.

Following the release of his breakout debut album in 2021, “Entropía,” the alternative pop singer earned a Latin Grammy for new artist and has since become well-known for his 2023 single “Fantasmas.” The track honors his late grandpa for Día de los Muertos and tends to go viral each year around the holiday.“Dueño del Cielo” is the final installment of a trilogy, following 2023’s “Esencia” and 2024’s “Armagedón.” Nearly every track on the latest release signals transformation, in both its lyricism and its sonics.

On the opening song, “Luz de Luna,” he gushes about not wanting to miss someone over a heartfelt piano ballad that slips between punky guitar rifts and unpredictable 808 drums.While on tracks like “Harry Stamper” and “Sábanas,” he embraces whimsical synthesizers and staccato vocal patterns to create a mystical soundscape.

On a recent promo trip to Los Angeles, De Los caught up with the 25-year-old Latin alternative pop singer in the days before the release of...