Nieve Ella daringly tiptoes around adolescence in "19 In a Week"

The release catalogues Ella’s recent few years with a tentative, considered atmosphere that makes for refreshing listening. Though she only started playing the guitar and making music in 2020, you get the sense that she’s been storytelling for much longer, or at least brewing snippets of stories to tell. On her latest, she’s bringing these snapshots to life.

On "19 in a Week", Ella embraces her age and spins it into sharp observations and reflections on what it means to grow up without losing your youth. Musically, she channels all the angst and excitement in tandem, through buzzy guitar hooks and her richly evocative vocal delivery. There’s something effortless about her writing, in a very Gen-Z nihilist way - a combination of laissez-faire lyricism and groovy, coming-of-age instrumentals constructs the framework for her diaristic dialogue.

The rest of Ella’s catalogue fills out the tracklisting for her home-movie tales with a gorgeous musical backdrop, shifting gears from the cloudy, angsty haze of "Blu Shirt Boy" to the confessional softness of "Glasshouses", which puts Ella’s voice in the spotlight for the EP’s most intimate moment.

“"19 In a Week" is a song about the love/hate relationship I have with growing up and the expectations there are of being a teen in this day and age.” describes Nieve. “I felt like I was a lot of steps behind in life compared to the people I grew up around.

“it is dedicated to a particular time or feelings experienced throughout my childhood up to my present life, with each song carrying the emotional weight of my adolescence and the lessons I learnt along the way. There’s a storyline from start to finish, representing my life over the past few years.”