The English singer deftly captures the liminality of your early 20s.
★★★★☆
Photo: Yana Van Nuffel
Your early 20s are famously a messy, contradictory, and confusing time. One minute you think you’ve got it all figured out, the next moment the floor is pulled out from beneath you and you’re left with no sense of direction. English singer Nieve Ella aims to explore these sentiments in her debut album How Long Will It Take?, a weighty portrait of the liminality of your early 20s.
The album opens theatrically with 101. An angelic choir crescendos before propulsive percussion comes into the mix. The previously sunny track ends with eerie distortion which ominously rings out. This evokes the shift from the heightened expectations of what early adulthood might look like to the bleaker reality of it all.
A driving bass (pun intended) opens the self assured Drive, which sees Ella embrace freedom and sensuality. Ella asserts control from the very first line. The confidence in the delivery really helps sell this track. The arrangement is seductive and fun but the lyrics on this one feel somewhat generic and derivative of Rihanna’s Shut Up And Drive. Although I’d happily add it to a night out playlist.
Standing On A Pane Of Glass conversely shows a more vulnerable side to Ella and reveals what lies underneath the mask of confidence. It begins with a more stripped back arrangement. Just Ella, a fuzzy electric guitar, and a bouncy beat that sounds like a snapping rubber band. There’s a sense of tension held in this track and the release comes in sudden crescendo, as Ella cries out “Why does it feel like there’s no way out?”. The question is not only sobering in its bluntness but also gives Ella a chance to show off her impressive belt. Her desperate outcries and spiralling observations help capture the scary uncertainties of growing up.
We then flip back to playful confidence on Romance Is A Desert, a light-hearted palette cleanser amidst the dark emotions at play on the record. It’s a bit of fun and has a danceable quality, but it does feel a bit more disposable as a result. Its nonchalant energy wasn’t quite my speed.
Bite Back sees Ella embrace a confrontational and love scorned energy. Its unabashed vengefulness makes it very compelling. It also comes with a rather surprising barbershop quartet style bridge which shouldn’t work but very much does. Ella isn’t scared to make more unconventional choices within the sonic palette of this album which makes it feel very fresh and distinct.
At Any Cost shifts away from the rock heavy sound of the record to dreamy synth-pop. The song sees Ella confront how more destructive habits can get in the way of real love and the fears of hurting someone you love. While it’s slightly whiplash inducing, Ella’s vocals really lend themselves to this style and this track became a fast favourite. The harmonies actually made my jaw drop and the bridge is utterly euphoric.
Angie sees Ella confront loss with some of the album’s strongest and most evocative lyrics. “Tell me, did you leave your earrings just to spite me? / Or just as a reminder / that the only thing that's certain is you'll leave something behind?” Ella asks in the chorus delivering a gut punch in the form of a simple question.
Love:Hate opens with chopped up staccato vocals which create an unsettling effect as Ella’s buttery smooth vocals float atop. The introspective questions continue as Ella walks the fine line between love and hate. “Love / Is it harder to love me? / Is it harder to let me go? / Let me go / Hate”. This oscillation between extreme emotions is a recurring theme on this album but no other song makes that contrast so explicit.
Climbing back from emotional lows, I’M NOT DEAD sees Ella back on a high. Where Ella was previously existential and fearing the uncertainty of it all, here she proclaims that “Living is the answer / I don’t need it all figured out”. She’s embracing ambiguity and is more open to seeing what it brings. This realisation feels all the more powerful following the tumultuous journey the listener has experienced alongside Ella. It’s a clear highlight of the record.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, Back To Basics finds Ella stuck again in liminality. You can tell yourself as many daily affirmations as you’d like but you’re still gonna make mistakes and have bad days. That’s life. We end with the title track How Long Will It Take? which serves as the thesis statement of the album. How long will it take for change and to leave this era of uncertainty?
No one can say for sure, but if Nieve Ella is soundtracking that journey, I’m more than happy to get on board.
How Long Will It Take? is out now via Artist Theory.