Nieve Ella - How Long Will It Take? Nieve Ella

Debut albums either arrive as a statement or instead pose a question. The question Nieve Ella has found herself asking echoes back, not only through her own life, but through the anxious existentialism of an entire two generations. How Long Will It Take? It’s a vulnerable question for the audience that has grown up alongside Nieve, gravitating towards her self-depreciating humour and straight-talking attitude. 

One image haunted her through the album writing process, and it’s one that is behind the album’s visual world: the staircase. “I feel like I’m on one neverending set of stairs and I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to get to the top, and there’s no bottom anymore,” she muses. “You might stop and have a breather but you’re always on those stairs. My legs are wobbly now but I’ve got no choice but to carry on.” That staircase represents her career and the possibility of success, but it also represents her becoming more herself, a version that’s more together and less self-sabotaging. When is she going to get there? It doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager or in your late-30s, you’ll know the constant trying to keep up while being exhaustingly stagnant. Her thrillingly ungovernable debut alt pop album explores that frustrating journey, every metaphorical step of the way. 

Even as a young rebellious teen Nieve Ella could sense that staircase ahead. At school, she landed in serious trouble for making TikTok videos during lessons. “I was just chitchatting about my teachers or making jokes about Ofsted,” she laughs. “I’d get hundreds of thousands of views and had about 30,000 followers. It was all because I wanted to build a following so I could start posting singing videos.” Only a couple of years later, singing live every single day on that very TikTok account got her discovered by a young A&R and signed. “I think the school system really failed me and hundreds of thousands of other kids like me who are energetic, or creative, or anyone who breaks the mold,” Nieve says. “But if my brain wasn’t wired the way it is I would not be here today making music.” 

Nieve doesn’t want people to only know the light, fun parts of her. “I want them to know the mess behind the scenes,” she says proudly of this debut album, a record more interested in proof than polish. Proof that the drama in her head is survivable, maybe even useful: “I want to be that voice for people to feel like it’s going to be OK because I’m going through it too.” Nieve Ella doesn’t have the answers yet and she’s refusing to fake them – but the first step to salvation is always asking the right question.