Abigail Murray
This past Friday, October 16, upcoming rock-pop artist Nieve Ella graced us all with her debut album How Long Will It Take? Filled with a mixture of intense rock tracks and deep, heartfelt songs, Nieve’s first album is truly one of a kind. Since announcing the album amidst playing some huge festivals over the summer, How Long Will It Take? has been highly anticipated by fans, particularly after she gave us an exciting insight into the whole aesthetic, releasing 5 captivating singles in the months preceding the album.
The album begins with “101,” a mostly instrumental introduction with minimal repetitive vocals. As Nieve repeats the lyric “TV falling” over and over, listeners are intrigued by the cryptic lyrics paired with a unique beat that builds beautifully over the two-minute track. Next on the track list is a thoughtfully arranged run of the five singles that were released ahead of the record. Although we’ve heard them before, they certainly shouldn’t be overshadowed by the new material. “Drive” was the first single of this new era, and the song does a great job of showcasing Nieve’s stunning vocals, as she sings about escapism and the thrill of taking control. Nieve herself has described it as an anthem that makes her feel “unstoppable,” a feeling that she hopes fans will relate to while listening to her music. As we go deeper into the album with “Standing On A Pane Of Glass,” the lyrics also dive deeper, with darker themes of feeling stuck conveyed perfectly using metaphorical lyricism throughout the hard-hitting track.
One of the most exciting and best-performing songs on the album is “Romance Is A Desert.” Heavily teased on social media, this mesmerizing song has played a huge part in attracting new Nieve Ella fans, pushing her monthly listeners to almost 700,000, which is seven times as many as she had at the start of this summer! As we near the end of the singles with the fierce, high-energy track “Bite Back,” the final single “At Any Cost” carries us into a more melancholic portion of the album, surrounding themes of self-reflection and hurt.
Starting off the rest of the newly released songs is “Angie,” in which Nieve sings to the eponymous character whom she fears may leave her. Halfway through the song, as the beat picks up, Nieve yearns to find closure with this person despite them leaving her, again demonstrating clever lyricism and keeping fans hooked. Another track in which Nieve explores her conflicting emotions is aptly titled “Love:Hate.” With a steady rhythm and tone throughout, contrasting lyrics such as “Is it harder to love me?” and “I hate that I need you” deepen the mood once again as Nieve seems to solely battle with her thoughts.
All photos in gallery above by Michael Smith (@michaelsgraphs)
Resurgence becomes prevalent in the next few tracks, beginning with the upbeat track “I’M NOT DEAD.” This is a genuinely positive turning point in the album, as Nieve now appears more perseverant and confident. This persists through the next song, “Back To Basics,” as the lyrics explore themes of resolution and maturity. This is showcased through lyrics such as “putting up defences, building walls around me,” as Nieve explains going “back to basics” and figuring out optimal ways to deal with how she’s feeling.
As the album comes to a close, the title track, “How Long Will It Take?” brings the mood back down, starting slow and raw, and ultimately providing an incredibly fitting conclusion to the record. As Nieve repeats “How long will it take to change, to change, to change?,” the theme of the album becomes clearer, making it easier to make sense of all of the ups and downs throughout the preceding tracks. Nieve Ella has stunned us all with the maturity and singularity of her debut album, and already has listeners eagerly waiting to see what comes next for her and her marvellous music.
