If you were to look for Nell Mescal, you’d probably find her in nature, drawing inspiration from the beautiful scenery that surrounds that. There’s a sliver of undeniable mysticism which resides in her songwriting – the kind of attribute you’d be right to assume made Taylor Swift’s fans fall in love with folklore.

Mescal was born to be a storyteller, no doubt about it. Her latest extended play, The Closest We’ll Get, is a poignant collection of stories which feel like they were penned by a poet who yearns to be heard. The EP’s title track embraces its core theme of two people swaying between platonic kinship and the aftermath of it becoming something more. Accompanied by Philip Weinrobe’s folk-inflected production, which employs a captivating, somewhat orchestral string arrangement, ‘The Closest We’ll Get’ sees Mescal confess her unconditional devotion in a way that seems extremely intimate, but never timid.

In fact, you could argue that confessional lyricism is the Irish musician’s strongest suit, but it’s actually her gentle, mellifluous vocal that makes the lyrics work so well. The project’s lead single ‘Carried Away’ is a great example of this, with Mescal’s performance sort of guiding the song’s rather eager instrumental. Her voice pierces through the recording, almost as if she’s singing right in front of you – a folkloric quality that contributes to the EP’s charming character.

The only sticking point is that the record’s opener, ‘Middle Man’, doesn’t really benefit from its comparatively tame production. The musical arrangement here isn’t flawed by any means, however, it sounds slightly disjointed from the hard-hitting lyrical content, especially in the bridge (“Grow up, find a girl / From your childhood / White dress, she’ll get cold feet / You’ll get angry / It gets scary”). ‘Middle Man’ doesn’t quite take off as much as it leaves you hoping it eventually would – its composition appears better suited for a track that isn’t as lyrically daring as this one.

Order by Nell Mescall HERE