Nell Mescal, one of Ireland’s frankest and freshest young singer-songwriters, is about to release her second EP, The Closest We’ll Get. It follows her breakout 2024 release Can I Miss It For a Minute?, which established her particular brand of folky, soul-baring indie pop
On 9 November, she’ll kick off her first headline tour, starting right here in Scotland: a short MegaBus journey away at Glasgow’s Òran Mór.
The new EP feels like an evolved continuation of Mescal’s emotionally vulnerable and honest musical style: her writing is so unique and completely full of her own unmistakable identity.
Meeting with Nell on a Zoom call amidst her busy schedule, I ask her: “Is it difficult to put yourself out there in a vulnerable position musically?”
“Honestly, I’ll just write the song and then, once it’s out in the world, it’s not mine anymore and so therefore it can’t hurt me,” she says, “if you think about it too hard you’re screwed.”
And Mescal’s songs ARE emotionally vulnerable: the new EP describes a grey area in a relationship, and the navigation of the emotions and feelings this evokes. The rawness of her lyrics is admirable, the emotional maturity of Mescal’s writing is something that has evolved and grown in this EP compared to her last. Its beautiful, simple honesty and vulnerability is both relatable and comforting.
She describes how, as it was produced by Philip Weinrobe (who has worked with the likes of Adrienne Lenker and Billie Marten previously), his production style meant that The Closest We’ll Get was completely different to her previous releases. The new EP was made in three days, completely live in a New York studio alongside an acoustic band.
“The actual making of the EP couldn’t have been made in a more opposite way,” Mescal said when asked about the process of making her second EP. “The writing process was also different because I think when I was writing Can I Miss It For a Minute? I was still trying to understand myself, like in a big way, and I think I know myself a bit more now.”
“What is your writing style like, is it independent? Do you lean on those around you for support and inspiration?” I ask.
“I only know how to write the way that I write. With this EP there’s so many collaborations on it, writing wise, but then also ‘Sweet Relief’ is just me. I wrote that in my bedroom, literally sitting at the edge of my bed.”
She mentions how her community of fans makes being vulnerable through her music easier, and more rewarding. I’m interested to get her opinion on the recent dialogue that social media and the ‘TikTokification’ of music are destroying the industry, as a member of Gen Z and digital native.
“I’ve built a community where people are just so sweet and so nice, and so you do feel close to them. I wouldn’t have half of the community I do now if it wasn’t for social media; if it wasn’t for the people that are peddling it online with their friends.”
But she does seem wary, having a limited social media presence, and referencing the importance of boundaries online. Heralding back to a time pre-social media, when music wasn’t an industry of 15 second snippets, she says: “You think about how music used to be and how it was people just releasing songs and that’s all that mattered. I think there’s something so special about that.”
When asked how she was feeling as the tour approached, Nell was optimistic: “I’m going to have a lot of fun on stage.” She’s no stranger to live gigs, having played huge festivals such as Leeds, Reading and TRNSMT, and having opened for big names, including Florence + Machine, Haim, and Phoebe Bridgers. She speaks warmly about the times she’s opened for other artists, and how she finds the pressure of headlining to make the show more stressful: “I think it’s just because when I’m whenever I’ve done a support gig it’s always just been the most mad gig to me, it’s always an artist that I’m absolutely obsessed with, or a crazy venue. So right before I go on stage, I’m like ‘holy shit.’”
“Then because I’m up there, you’re just like ‘this is so fun’.” But now, as she heads into this tour, she is determined to have fun, “We get to do a job that is technically so silly.” She seeks to strike the perfect balance between emotionally crushing and silly. Not an easy feat!
Reflecting on her Maynooth roots, I think of Ireland’s influence on music. It is international, and wildly disproportionate to the country’s size. When asked why Mescal consistently references singers like Sinead O’Connor, she says: “Artists like that have always come out of Ireland. People that just have something that they believe in, and they’re not afraid to put everything on the line.”
Although she mentions the global success of artists like Fontaines D.C., CMAT and KNEECAP currently, she also stresses that Irish musical influence has always been immense: “It’s not new, it’s just I think people are finally over pretending that it’s not happening”. She further cites Damien Rice (an amazing Irish artist who you should 100 per cent give a listen to if you’re a fan of Nell’s style) as a key influence, as well as up-and-comers, NewDad.
I asked her if she would ever go back to Ireland, to which she replied: “I would love to go back and record there. I think going on writing trips there will be really fun, and I love playing there but I don’t know if I can see myself living there in the next while.”
Although she’s no longer based there, Nell Mescal is a part of a new generation of musicians making Ireland proud, and I have no doubt that this tour is the first of many, and there are many more emotionally crushing (but hopeful!) songs in her future.
“WillButlerMothC160724 (20 of 58)” by Raph_PH is licensed under CC BY 2.0.