Nieve Ella bares her teeth on a bold debut ‘How Long Will It Take?’
Nieve Ella has never been an artist to pull punches. On her debut album, How Long Will It Take?, the rising star makes a powerful statement.
While How Long Will It Take? marks Nieve’s full debut, the 23-year-old is far from unseasoned. The Midlands-born songwriter has a trio of EPs to her name and has spent large parts of the last three years touring. That journey has clearly given Nieve the confidence to swing big. How Long Will It Take? is a marked departure from what has come before – tender indie hits give way to a grungier, cinematic sound. But this is no romcom.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the record centres on heartbreak, but there is much more at play. While romance runs through its 38 minutes, How Long Will It Take? sees Nieve look at friendships, the industry and, crucially, her place in the world. There are echoes of haunting Wolf Alice vocals on ‘How Long Will It Take?’, which serves as the project’s epilogue. There’s a poise to the title track – while Nieve poses the question over and over again, she’s come out at a place where perhaps it doesn’t need answering.
Getting to that point was clearly not easy. How Long Will It Take? is nothing short of a concept album and merits a thorough listen from start to finish. Nieve starts the record in the middle of a battle. There’s a snarl to ‘Drive’ as the singer chants, “You wanna talk, talk, talk and blah, blah, blah.” Whether she’s fighting the restrictions of a relationship or the industry, there’s a craving for control.
That joyride doesn’t last long. By the album’s third track, ‘Standing On A Pane of Glass’, the rising star is at her lowest ebb. It’s the artist’s most daring release to date as her vocals go to war with crashing guitars. “Nobody knows that it's got this bad, watching the wheels roll off the tracks,” she closes. From there, How Long Will It Take? becomes a story of bouncing back. The smoke begins to clear on ‘Romance Is A Desert’ as Nieve revels in a moment of reflection on the album’s most radio-ready track – it’s with a smile that she admits, “once you fall in, you’re never getting out”.
There is, however, no taking the high road on ‘Bite Back’. A revenge anthem about ‘a man who had his ego hurt’, Nieve’s pen is at its strongest here. “I was tender, now I am teeth,” she threatens, in a phrase that nearly became the album’s title. Through that catharsis, it’s a softer side of the artist who emerges over the second half of How Long Will It Take?. Nieve accepts a portion of the blame on the vulnerable ‘At Any Cost’ and ‘Love:Hate’ arrives with striking clarity as the record’s early melodrama appears to take its toll.
By the final stretch, the star is looking to the future. ‘I’M NOT DEAD’ could become the songwriter’s magnum opus. Heavier production sparks back into life as Nieve poses big life questions.
“I guess I’ll leave it all to fate,” the singer declares on that track. Allowing herself to be carried up by a string section and chorus of voices, it’s a brilliant resilience that comes to the forefront.
With her guts spilt, How Long Will It Take? feels like a turning point for Nieve Ella. The budding star has now seen and created enough to emerge as her most potent self. The journey has been quite something.
9/10
Nieve Ella’s ‘How Long Will It Take?’ has been added to under the radar’s Elite Picks.