Nell Mescal: “There’s going to be a lot of music next year”
The Irish star spoke to us about her second EP, recording in New York and her upcoming headline tour.
Photo: Tia Johnson
Moving 382 miles to The Big Smoke and dropping out of school is no mean feat, but Nell Mescal did it. Nell kick-started her career with covers, often found on Instagram live and TikTok, performing with her keyboard and smooth, delicate vocals, before packing her bags and moving all the way to London to chase her dreams.
Never looking back, Nell is now two EPs deep and fresh from a support slot for HAIM, proving that taking that chance can really make all the difference. Despite all of her success and working with Philip Weinrobe, who worked on Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker’s solo album last year, the Irish star isn’t rushing to release an album anytime soon. She just wants to make music and release it whenever she pleases — there’s something to be said about that.
With the release of her second EP, The Closest We’ll Get, Nell strips back everything and gets incredibly honest, taking us through a time in her life where she found herself on a tightrope with a friend, wondering whether it was something more, before the EP closes with Sweet Relief and closes the chapter.
When her train was delayed, Nell hopped off and jumped onto a Lime bike, determined not to make me wait — a showcase of her character. I managed to catch her just before she packed her bags for her headline tour this Sunday, where she’ll be taking the new EP around the UK and Ireland through to December.
First of all, congratulations on supporting HAIM last week. When did you find out you’d be doing that?
Thank you. On the… Monday? So I had maybe three full days to figure it out because we were going on the Friday morning, the first show was Friday night. My EP was also coming out that week, so the week was already pretty stacked. Then I was, like, ‘we can’t cancel any of the things I have on because we have an EP to promote’. We had a quick rehearsal on the Thursday. After the rehearsal, I had a styling appointment and we were getting all the clothes together. I fully did not sleep until after the first show on the Friday, then I was like ‘we can relax now, it’s actually happening’.
That’s crazy! How does that even happen?
I had been asked by the girls a couple of months ago, then I think the powers that be… it just wasn’t happening. On the Monday, I literally just got a text from Alana [Haim] and I was like ‘oh, it’s happening’. It was insane, but so exciting. It was such a good week.
You opened for them back in 2023 for their ‘Days Are Gone’ Anniversary show, too?
Yeah, I supported that. I did the All Points East show – I was on the line-up for that. It was like two or three weeks later, they were doing that Shepherd’s Bush show, and I got asked to do it. That was really fun. I feel like I know a lot of their main fans and the guys who queue up for hours. It was so cool to see them every night.
How was it playing at The O2?
It was insane. I spent the whole day after just crying because I was like, ‘What is going on?’.
With the new EP, you’ve transitioned away from a pop sound into a folkier, more acoustic-focused sound. How did you find exploring this new sound?
It’s always where I’ve wanted to end up, but also my taste and the music that I listen to vary so much that I’m always just excited, like, whatever the main focus is at that moment, I put my all into it.
At this time, when I was writing these songs, I was so influenced by a lot of folk music, and that was the only thing I was listening to. It’s funny, because now I’m listening to a little bit of, I guess, different type of music, and now the stuff I’m writing – that you probably won’t hear for a little bit – is more different. It still has the folk, and it’s still got acoustic parts in it. That’s what’s so great about making music: you can do whatever you want and, as long as it’s good, you’re okay.
I feel like this EP tells a really nice story from beginning to end; it’s very cohesive. What sort of artists were you listening to that inspired the EP?
I was listening to a lot of Big Thief, Adrianne Lenker, Labbi Siffre and people who write really great songs and are able to tell a story in such a short amount of time.
I got to work with Philip Weinrobe, who had just worked on my favourite record last year, which was Adrianne Lenker’s record [Bright Future].
The cohesive part of it was that we got to be in a studio for three days, and we recorded six songs in those three days with no headphones. We weren’t allowed to listen to anything back. We had no click; it was all live in a living room, and it was all feeling-based. If everyone felt good after a take, we would say ‘great, that’s the take’. It was the first time I was never allowed to listen to anything back, and I was losing my mind, but also completely trusting the process because I wanted to work with Philip, and that’s how he works. It was honestly the most amazing experience in a studio I’ve ever had. It was incredible.
That sounds amazing – I’ll listen to the EP with a new perspective on it now. How did you find that experience compared to recording Can I Miss It For A Minute?
It’s funny – they couldn’t be more different. But, also, I love that way of recording just as much, because there was so much thought put into every single sound, in a way that you’d spend an hour on one guitar tone, which just didn’t happen on this record. There was still so much care and thought, but it was very much like ‘this feels good, okay, don’t change it, this feels great’. But, on Can I Miss It For A Minute?, it was very much like ‘how can we make this the best it can be?’.
Both were very different. I think feelings-wise, I love both of them, but for different reasons. I feel transported back to both places very clearly, which is really nice for me to be able to, like, when I close my eyes and I listen to The Closest We’ll Get, I’m sat in the corner of the room that Philip had me in, and I can see all the musicians, and it was all like that. When I think about Can I Miss It For A Minute?, I’m still in the corner, I’m on this little chair, and it’s literally just three of us in a room. Very different experiences, but also very valuable.
Did you know those three people, and then went and recorded with strangers for the new EP?
Yeah – it was my guitarist and one of my best friends, Charlie, who worked on the EP with me, playing-wise, and then Duncan Mills, who was the producer, who is one of my greatest friends. That was a very intimate vibe.
Then, for The Closest We’ll Get, I flew over to New York, and I forced Philip to let me bring Charlie, because I was like ‘I need someone here’. I need someone I know here.
Me and Charlie walked in on the first day, and there were six people in a room that we had never met before, except for Philip on Zoom. Philip was like ‘Okay, now what song are we starting with?’. I was like ‘Let’s start with The Closest We’ll Get’. No one had ever heard it before except for Philip, me and Charlie. Me and Charlie played it acoustically in the room and, on the second listen, everyone just started joining in, and we started arranging. It was such a special experience, because it was literal strangers that somehow knew exactly what I wanted it to sound like.
Had they heard your music before?
I don’t think so. I don’t think they knew who they were working with until the night before. It was so daunting. I’m a fan of a lot of them because some of them work in bands that I really love, and some of them I’d never met before and hadn’t known, so it was honestly just so fun. They were all so hilarious and sweet that the smile never came off my face for the full recording.
Do you have a favourite song from the EP?
It’s really hard – after the HAIM shows, I think it’s maybe Sweet Relief because I wasn’t expecting people to be smiling as much during that song, as much as it’s called ‘Sweet Relief’. At the end of it, you do feel that sense of optimism. It’s still a really sad one for me, and playing it live really changed my perspective on it — everyone was so sweet about it. But also, I love Carried Away. I love the ending of The Closest We’ll Get. I’m a big fan of this EP. I love it so much. I think I love it so much because of how we recorded it; every time we sing it, or every time I listen to it, I’m fully just back in the studio, there with everyone, and so I love them all for very different reasons, which is a cop out answer.
No, that’s a fair answer. Were you writing the EP while you were experiencing it?
Yeah, I wrote the full EP while I was going through the motions of the situation, so writing it was a very different experience. It was really sad and difficult, and I couldn’t be overthinking the situation more, which is hilarious, because how we recorded it was no overthinking, just like the emotions and whatever. But when I was writing it, it was a very different experience.
The only one that was written with two frames of mind were Sweet Relief, because I started it when I was really, really sad, and I finished it two days before we went to record it, and I wrote the bridge, which is that final plea, and the final emotion, and the whole EP where it’s like, you’ve exasperated every last emotion, you’ve done all you can, and then you end up on it’s a sweet relief that it’s over and that we can move on, and that we can be friends. That one probably has a special place in my heart, because it is both parts of me – I think when I was writing it, I was a very different person. When I finally got over this situation, I blossomed into someone else. Sweet Relief captures both of those people, which is really nice.
I feel it’s always good to reflect on something once you’ve written it down, then you realise that’s not really you anymore.
Totally, but you can still see yourself in that part of you. It’s really nice to have songs that have shifted perspectives in them. Middle Man, I wrote two and a half years ago and, when I listen to that now, I’ve shifted the perspective, and it doesn’t feel like it’s about this other person and I’m being an asshole to them. It almost feels like I’m talking to myself.
With Sweet Relief, it was literally so physical. I stopped writing that song because I was too sad, and then, for a year later, to be on my way to record and feeling so much closure, feeling so much better, feeling like a brand new person, to get to finish writing it, I was like ‘whoa’. It’s so cool to actually have that in a song forever now.
It sounds therapeutic in a way. I guess you can just take your songs to therapy with you.
You know what, I would love to do that. I was in therapy the other day, and I had just written a song, and I was like, ‘I want to play you my song’, and I don’t know if we’re allowed to do that, but I want you to hear this song so that you can understand what’s going on in here. Maybe I’ll bring it out to my next session.
It’s the best way to go about it – it’s so open and honest. Is there a genre that you’d like to explore?
I just feel like I never know what song is going to come out when I’m writing it, and I feel like a lot of the songs that I write end up being a lot heavier and have a lot more of an electric sound, or even like a rockier sound or an alt sound.
Some of my favourite songs are literally just really stripped-back songs. I think it really is just song to song. I try and tie as many of the same ones into each avenue.
What I do know is whatever is next, I think there’s going to be a lot of music next year. I would hope to just be able to release a bit more consistently and put out songs as I’m feeling them and as I’m creating them. I think there’s something really special about capturing stuff in the moment. That’s what I learned from this process of if it feels good, then it is good. If it feels like the truth, then that’s what it is. I’m looking forward to just kind of putting out anything. Do you know what I mean?
Absolutely. I feel like a lot of people nowadays stick to a certain pattern for the algorithm. Are you looking to release a debut album or is it too soon?
I would love to, I feel like I’ve been working on a debut album for so long. I saw someone say you work on your debut album your whole life, until you finally do it. I believe that, I think I’m always working on it. I’m always trying to figure out what I want to say, and I think it is so important. But I also think just making music that feels like me in the time that it feels like me is really important. So whenever it happens, I’m excited for it. There are so many songs right now that I just want to put out, and I don’t know if I can wait to put them on an album. So we’ll see – fingers crossed, very soon.
I feel like an album is such a big deal that you don’t want to do it for the sake of it.
Yeah, and I really respect anyone who makes an album. It’s such a fucking cool thing to be able to do. One day I’m gonna wake up and I’m gonna know it’s time to make an album – and it’s not tomorrow and it’s not today.
There are bands putting out an album a year. I don’t know how they do it – I only get one creative idea a year. How was it making the move from Ireland to London?
It’s funny. I’ve been reflecting on it a lot this week, because I moved on the first of November four years ago. So it was literally four years ago this week. I’ve been thinking about it, and I think at the time it was probably a lot harder than I gave myself credit for. I was pretending I was the best person ever. I was like, ‘Do you know what? You’re never gonna be sad. You’re on a mission. Just don’t look back. Don’t give in to being homesick, you’re fine, everything’s okay’. It wasn’t until three years later where I was like, ‘Whoa. That was really hard and also really stressful’.
I was a baby, and I miss my mom and I miss my dad, and it’s okay to have those feelings. I was just so stubborn at the time, and just like one step in front of the other, don’t look back.
Now I reflect a lot on that time, and have a lot of respect for my younger self for getting through it and being so strong. Also – not to be cringe – but it’s okay to not be that strong and kept together. My New Year’s resolution this year was to go out more and party more, because I missed a whole chapter there; I was just trying to be so on top of my shit. Overall, [it’s] the best thing I ever did for myself, for my music, for my growth, for everything. I’m really glad I did it.
I feel like sometimes you know you just need to do something, and you have to do it.
There was nothing that was gonna stop me. I was just like ‘I don’t care, it’s happening. Bye’.
Did you leave school?
Yeah, I dropped out of secondary school. So I never did my A levels. I did one month of sixth year, like my final year, and then I was like, ‘I can’t do it’. I did one month, then I worked full-time for a month to save for a deposit to pay for my rent for a month. And then I was like, ‘Okay, I have to go’. I booked a flight before I even had accommodation. I was just like, ‘I don't care’. So, yeah, I put it in my calendar. First of November was my official move date. Every year that comes around, I’m like, ‘whoa’. It’s so crazy to see how much has changed.
London must be good to meet fellow musicians, too. How is it compared to Ireland in that way?
It’s funny because I don’t have a fair perspective on it as I was so young when I moved here, and I never fully immersed myself in the Irish music scene, but also, I didn’t know how, and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I moved here because my management was here, and it made the most sense. I know that there’s a beautiful Irish music scene at home, and I know friends that are still there and are still doing it and still loving it, and in the same side, I know so many people that have moved here to do it and are enjoying it just as much here.
I would have had a good time anywhere, but for me, personally, I needed to be somewhere else. I needed to be put in a very uncomfortable situation and completely new scenery to grow a bit more. I’m very glad that I did it – most of my friends that are back at home in Ireland doing music are still having a great time. So I think it would have worked out either way.
It really forces you to be an adult as well. You don’t have your mum, you have to live your life by yourself. I don’t know how you did it. I know you just played The O2, but is there a dream venue that you want to play?
That was one of them! Well, I would love to headline the O2, but I would love to headline the 3Arena. I would love to headline Brixton Academy. I would love to headline Kentish Town Forum, because I would go there a lot when I first moved to London. I need to do that at some point. There are so many that I would love to do. But yeah, probably the 3Arena and then go back to The O2 and headline it.
That would be cool. Is there a dream collaboration you want to do?
I have so many from literally just my best friends, like my friend Sam Griffiths, who’s in a band called The Howl & The Hum – one day I will force him to sing a song with me before we die, like I have to. Also, my friend Lucy Blue, I would love to sing with her on something. There are so many artists – I’m literally obsessed with SZA. I would love to do something with SZA. I would love to do something with Big Thief. I have so many people that I would just love to be in a room with them and like, see what we would do.
Your headline tour starts on Sunday. Do you have any surprises in store?
We’re going to be playing the new songs. We’re going to be playing some old songs. We’re going to be playing a song that I have tried to take off the set list 1000 times, and that, unfortunately, everyone just loves when I sing it. I won’t say what it is, because I want to keep it as a surprise. I just don’t like this song because I feel like it’s so baby Nell now. Every time I listen to it, I’m like, ‘That is a literal child singing the song’. But also, I feel like every time we play it, it’s the most fun ever. So I’m going to be bringing one of those songs back.
I’m just excited to play a show with five of us on stage now, so there’s a lot more going on, and I’m excited to be playing for people who know the words. I’m so excited.
Do you remember your first show that you played in London?
My first ever show that I played in London with a band was supporting Violet Skies in Hoxton. I think that was my first ever show in Colours Hoxton. I was so nervous. I was wearing the most fuck ass outfit. I was wearing parachute pants and a Prince t-shirt, and had no idea what I was doing. I think that was my first show. And then I played Barn on the Farm, like two days later – and I wore the exact same outfit.
Are there any goals you’d like to achieve next year?
I would love to release more music. I would love to go to Europe and do some acoustic shows. That would be really fun. I would love to do more support tours. I have the best time on tours like that – big or small. I would like to have a lot of fun next year. I’ve had a lot of fun this year, and I just want to keep that going.
Well, Big Thief are touring next year…
Hey, I’m like, ‘I will be on that tour if it kills me’. No, I’ll be at that tour; I will be front row at that tour.
Nell will be taking her new EP The Closest We’ll Get on tour, starting in Glasgow this Sunday (9th November).
