How freakish it is to see the year fly by. Around this time last year, along with Feet and Inhaler, Nieve Ella was playing to hundreds in NX Newcastle. Now charting a course through a headliner slot of her own, it is incredible and inevitable to see how grand a pace Ella has taken with her work. Lifetime of Wanting, her latest five-track EP which released in those cold months of 2023, features some of the remarkable form first heard by slightly deafened music journalists a few vodkas deep into their experience of leftover wintry conditions. What a life we live and lead. Lifetime of Wanting dishes out the desires captured by its title and then some. It will shake the soul out of place.
Broad sensibilities and emotional periods of Big House are more scattershot than first expected. There is a grand and relatable core to this but it feels openly materialistic in portions, nothing which flickers some sparks in the heart or the head but credit to Ella for openly expanding on the realistic goals of people across the country. Lifetime of Wanting is very much hooked on the latter word, this sense of solving your problems with materialistic wealth is found in each of these titles. Big houses, small cars and intimate encounters in rooms and couches. To try something new is to experience some bitterness, some rage and anxiety. Lifetime of Wanting takes the time to find its footing with the comfortable guitar work of opener Big House, but it soon takes great stride on His Sofa.
Knowing when to cut ties or come to the end of a relationship can be heard on Your Room but it never sounds as though there is much tragedy at the heart of it. Ella has a way of hiding the heartbreak and makes the transition from person to person – the long-term commitment to a sense of uncertainty – sound as chillingly simple as changing a pair of shoes. As it should be. There is a dedicated sense of love and beauty to Your Room and follow-up Car Park, an independence listeners of Ella would be wise to pick up on and contemplate properly. Your value as an individual, regardless of ties, troubles or relationships, should be the focus. Lifetime of Wanting champions this.
Maturity rushes over Ella’s five-piece EP, which takes some warming to but once it has its grip it never lets go. Lifetime of Wanting exposes the desires of a constant and almost fearful group of people – we all feel the throes of desperation for change at some point. If you do not, congratulations on having it all figured out. Lifetime of Wanting does well to get to grips with wondering what could have been and where other choices and paths could take us. Do not dwell on it for too long though, as you may lose sight of what you already have, as the title track soon hints at. Neat mixing, strong vocal work and all the usual qualities expected of Ella are right here – the concepts she is singing of are dearly held ideas and perspectives on the world around her.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
