Nell Mescal talks trusting her gut, emotional vulnerability, and latest EP 'The Closest We'll Get' for DIY's Class of 2026 • Neu • DIY Magazine

Nell Mescal is aglow with seasonal joy as she calls DIY nearing the end of her biggest headline tour to date. “It’s so nice to have been doing these shows coming up to Christmas,” offers the 22-year-old. “I think playing live is the only time you can really be present and see how much your music means to people, then you’re in the van all day and there’s nothing to do but stare out the window and think about things.”

Given just how raw and open her latest EP ‘The Closest We’ll Get’ is, it’s perhaps unsurprising that she’s found that the work has had a profound impact on those braving the recent cold snap to head down to the shows. “When you go out and play, you can actually see the people that are listening to the songs. It’s been a really amazing few months and it’s been really wholesome.”

Nell says she seized the opportunity to get up close and personal with her growing following on the run, which stopped off at rite-of-passage institutions like Glasgow’s Oran Mor, Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club and The Fleece in Bristol. “I think on every tour that I’ve done so far, I’ve really made a point to be at the merch table for as long as possible after. To me, it’s the coolest thing about the job.”

You only need to hear tracks like ‘Middle Man’, which hits like an emotional depth charge, to understand why these songs are connecting in such a big way. It’s totally gripping as she sings over a hushed and haunting piano that’s become so central to her sound: “The wasted potential / It’s bringing me down / I can’t be your mother / I can’t hold you through it.”

Today, Nell says her own candid approach has encouraged her listeners to open up in turn. She lets out a chuckle before musing, “I think people are always scared that they’re trauma dumping and I don’t think that that’s necessarily happening.” Instead, she sees her own music as an open invite to that two-way conversation. “It’s a nice healthy space. I’m ready to be able to hear what people have to say because if they are trauma dumping then so am I.”

She points to devastatingly beautiful single ‘Thin’, a track that grapples with themes of romance and body image as she lets her stark vocal shine over a lo-fi acoustic guitar: “So I’ll get thin / And let everybody call it a relief / I’ll find love / But he’ll never understand that part of me / He’ll call me pretty now / But I was pretty then too.”

“I think it’s always really brave when someone can open up to me about something like that because it’s not easy. It wasn’t an easy song to write, it’s not an easy song to sing and it’s definitely not an easy song to talk about.” She thinks before adding. “When people are so open with their experience, I think it’s the opposite of trauma dumping. It’s just like a healing moment for both parties. It’s definitely one of those things that’s beyond words and very special.”

“Just being present is a big personal victory and on the whole it’s been a really lovely year for that.”

Having grown up in a musical household in the town of Maynooth - just a half an hour’s drive from Dublin - there’s no denying that 2025 has been a year where Nell has really started seeing her dreams play out. “I feel like I’ve really caught up to myself personally and with my career,” she says. “I’m very ambitious and I’m very competitive. I have vision boards at both ends of my bed because I want to be focused at all times.”

Throughout our chat, you get the sense that Nell knows exactly where she is and where she’s heading. “Sometimes I’ll live in that head space around what’s coming next but with these recent shows, it’s the first time I’ve just enjoyed the moment and not necessarily worried about what’s on the horizon. I think just being present is a big personal victory and on the whole it’s been a really lovely year for that.”

A great signifier of that ambition would be the recording process of this EP in itself, which saw her fly out to Brooklyn to spend time in the studio with producer Philip Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker, Cass McCombs). She describes the experience as game-changing.

She describes the experience as “genuinely life changing”. “I was quite scared going into it but it was so exciting. I’d tried not to cry as much as possible for the four days I was there and then on the last day as I was saying goodbye, I literally broke down in tears because I’d learned so much and I think it really opened up my world of music and what I think I can do next.”

One of her biggest lessons was about trusting her gut instinct moving into the future. “It’s not about anything other than [saying], ‘did that feel good? And if not we’ll keep trying’. That changed my view on being a musician and how I will probably record going forward. It was the realisation that you don’t need to keep going down the same path all the time and trying to make something a certain way if it doesn’t feel good. I feel like I grew so much in that one week.”

“I’ve definitely gotten closer to who I want to be as a performer this year.”

Nell has also gained momentum in the live setting, thanks to recent milestones, including opening for HAIM on their UK arena run. Yet you get the impression she hasn’t had a chance to celebrate such lofty achievements just yet. “I do try to celebrate but I think it’s an Irish thing to downplay anything good that ever happens.

“With the HAIM shows, there was no time to process it all because the opportunity came about at the last minute. I’m enjoying myself so much on stage right now though and I think that is a way of processing the year and celebrating.”

Does she get nervous taking such intimate songs into those massive rooms? “I’ve done some big dates before with Florence + The Machine but I was so young then,” she says. “I think I get a bit more emotional than I do scared, it’s like my body is trying to process what’s happening. It’s crazy because you can be in this huge room one night and then doing a much smaller headline which is equally thrilling because it’s to a few hundred people that know every word.”

Looking forward, Nell explains that the imminent festive break will offer some time and space to further reflect. “My family always talks through our entire years at Christmas. I’m excited to go home and have a little think and a journal.”

“I live with my brother and he’s seen literally every song, every single version that [they] could possibly be, from writing them on a couch to performing them in these big rooms with a full band, so it’s even more interesting seeing him talk about seeing me on stage and how it’s completely changed.” She concludes: “I think that only happens with experience and harnessing each and every emotion. I’ve definitely gotten closer to who I want to be as a performer this year, I used to be a bit more self-conscious and I don’t think I feel that anymore.”

“I’m very much led by the sentiment of ‘everything happens for a reason’, but I think in order to open doors, you have to be brave and close others or take a step and open ones you didn’t want to open and deal with whatever’s inside so that you can close it and lock it forever.”

Heading into the new year, it’s very much a case of carrying that momentum. “I feel like I’m writing at such a rapid pace and I definitely want to release more music,” she says. “There’s no rules anymore. I’m going to just change some things up, release more music early on and see what happens. I’m just having the most lovely time writing and every song feels like I’ve opened up something a little bit different within me and that’s exactly where I want to be.”

‘The Closest We’ll Get’ is out now via Atlantic Records.

#AD