Nell Mescal Talks of Finding Clarity in the Chaos on New EP, The Closest We’ll Get
At just 22, Nell Mescal stands at the threshold of something extraordinary.
With her new EP, The Closest We’ll Get, out today, the Irish songwriter sharpens her voice and her vision, delivering six tracks that trace the delicate ache of love, confusion and self-understanding. Led by the haunting single, Middle Man, the record marks a bold step forward in both sound and storytelling.
Tonight, Mescal and her band bring these songs to life on arena stages across the UK, supporting HAIM, before embarking on her biggest headline tour yet this November. It’s a milestone moment for an artist who, in just a few short years, has gone from uploading demos online to earning acclaim from The New York Times, Vogue, NME and Radio 1.
Speaking ahead of the release, Mescal describes The Closest We’ll Get as “a collection of songs that tell a story about two people and how their relationship is in the grey area of friends or lovers.” She pauses, then adds, “Each song is a realisation of how sitting in the in-between affected me—and in turn affected the ‘friendship.’”
That tension – the push and pull of wanting something you can’t define – runs through the record. From the wistful melodies of Middle Man to the fragile quiet of All My Friends Are Growing Up, Mescal captures the complicated intimacy of youth and heartbreak.
Recorded in Brooklyn with producer Philip Weinrobe, known for his work with Adrianne Lenker, Billie Marten and Cass McCombs, The Closest We’ll Get trades the glossy textures of Mescal’s earlier work for something warmer and more organic. “We wanted it to sound like it was living and breathing,” she explains. “There are mistakes in there that we left on purpose because that’s how it felt to me – imperfect, but real.”
Weinrobe’s unorthodox approach, combined with Mescal’s folk instincts, yields a record that feels intimate yet expansive. Acoustic guitars weave gently around her voice, which sounds more assured and emotive than ever.
It was only last year that Mescal released her debut EP Can I Miss It For a Minute?, a project that introduced her as one of Ireland’s most honest young lyricists. That record wrestled with body image, adolescence and the messiness of early adulthood. The Closest We’ll Get, she says, comes from a steadier, more self-aware place.
“I feel like I finally found my footing,” she says. “Every time I finish something, I think, ‘That’s it, I’ve figured it out.’ Then a few months later, I’ll listen back and wish I’d done something differently. But this time, I think I got closer to what I’ve always wanted to sound like.”
The past two years have seen Mescal emerge as one of the most promising new voices in alt-folk and indie pop. A nomination at the Rolling Stone UK Awards and consistent radio support have only added to her growing profile. Yet she remains grounded, determined to keep her art as vulnerable and human as the songs that launched her career.
“I just want people to feel seen,” she says. “If a song makes someone think, ‘Oh, that’s me,’ then that’s enough.”
With The Closest We’ll Get, Mescal has created a record that feels both personal and universal – one that turns uncertainty into something quietly luminous. As she steps onto arena stages this autumn, it’s clear that Nell Mescal is no longer finding her voice. She’s already using it to tell stories that matter.
