Julian Laws
A Popular Music (Falmouth University) graduate currently based just outside of Bristol. A voracious reader, meticulous Letterboxd reviewer and lover of all things music. Consistently championing often ignored upcoming artists from Cornwall and the South West music scene to show what amazing talent can be found outside of the big cities!
Dark, moody and dramatic, ‘Standing On A Pane Of Glass’ shatters its way into your ears, begetting a new era for songstress, Nieve Ella.
The third release of an upcoming project, ‘How Long Will It Take?‘ and the single courses you through the precariousness of living – how at any moment the panes you tread on can break, crack, explode and shatter.
Opening with a simple distorted guitar riff on a hollow drum beat, the song quickly builds into something much more dramatic, with depth, grit and drive. With vocal production that echoes that of Julian Casablancas – distorted right on the edge – the single expertly captures that feeling of being on the precipice of something damningly huge. Of your voice sometimes being lost in distortion, with reason out the window and only your innate emotions navigating you through it and in a life that can sometimes feel like shattered glass.
The explosive stops feel like your head is being pulled this way and that way, paired with the layered backing vocals, and impressive belts from Nieve Ella, blasts her into this new sonic era. One that started from acoustic routes, coursing fans through heartbreak and introspective anguish now sees Nieve venturing into a darker and deeper world. This single and the previous two released – ‘Bite Back’ and ‘Drive’ – feel laced in smoke, like they’re being played out in rain slicked streets in the aftermath of something dangerous, coiling around things constricting you but releasing with a power that drives and inspires. (It’s the type of shift that feels slightly parallel to Charli xcx’s new revival from ‘brat‘. )
Refreshing fans and new listeners alike, singles like ‘Standing On A Pane Of Glass‘ are the perfect tease for an artist soon to release an album. To me this song is the rage that follows heartbreak and introspective anguish. These are tropes that Nieve has successfully touched on before, but has now had enough of. It is the single of someone being fed up, taking the reigns and standing on panes of glass whether they break or not, braving the cuts and the danger that are all a part of it. I am sure fans can’t wait to hear this new upcoming project and see what Nieve Ella does next!
Nieve Ella’s latest album ‘How Long Will It Take?‘ is set to release 16th October 2026.
Listen to ‘Standing On A Pane Of Glass‘ here:
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