Dreamy, Queer, and Honest- Nep releases First Album, Noelle
As someone who has had “Cottontail” on repeat since I saw her open for Ricky Montgomery last year, I was absolutely ecstatic when she began releasing new music earlier this year. I was even more ecstatic when she announced her album, Noelle, for release October 24th 2025.
Four singles were released ahead of the full album, these included “Girls on TV” (which I reviewed earlier this year), “All Around Beauty”, “Biketoberfest”, and “Florida Girl”. Starting strong with “Girls On TV”, this upbeat and catchy song introduces you to the world of this album. It is constantly rattling around in my head, and it is definitely the perfect choice for lead single.
The following song, “The Soundtrack”, was a builder, ramping up to vocals after the drop that made my jaw drop. This album, at times, genuinely took me away with how strong Neps' vocals have gotten, and “The Soundtrack” is one of those times. “Biketoberfest” is an absolute win for girls who love to yap or girls who feel weird and out of place in their hometowns. The duality of this song lies with the dualing lighthearted lines like “I love to talk, you know this” and absolutely heart-crushing lines like “Nobody likes me anymore / Nobody likes a girl in a car / When it’s October 10th in Daytona”.
While the album is absolutely stellar, there is a certain magic imbued in its title track, “Noelle”. It’s melancholic, it’s dreamy, it jumps from being in love with the titular Noelle to wanting to be her (a common queer experience). Immediately, this song felt, to me, like the modern, queer girl take on “Michelle” by The Beatles. I keep coming back to this song, it’s absolutely timeless and just gorgeous. Similarly,“I Will Always Love You Alright” is so dreamy and shines in the lyrics about the mundane and the familial. The instrumentals feature a soft guitar, reminiscent of being sung to sleep.
““My daddy messages me every night/ hey little girl with your eyebrows white/ tattooes on your tummy and your world on fire/ I will always love you alright”.”
The country songs aren’t overdone nor feel cheesy, even on the more over-the-top “Florida Girl”. This is in spite of the banjos, plucky guitars, and twang-y backing vocals. In fact, as someone who grew up with a mom who loved country music, this reminded me of many of the more nostalgic songs of my childhood. One of my very first notes, scrawled into my little journal, while listening through the album was “I’m obsessed with how country she sounds.” Bonus points is that I’m also from Florida.
Boy, was this album worth the wait. Her first EP, Storybook, was sweet and such a great introduction to who Nep is and a more folk-inspired version of her artistry. However, in Noelle, you can feel just how much Neps' artistry has grown since then. In certain parts of the album, I swear I hear Mitski inspired sounds, sometimes Olivia Rodrigo. In contrast to the folk feel of Storybook, Neps production on this album ranges from dreamy and indie on songs like “Noelle” and “I Close My Eyes” to plucky and country-inspired like “Scar” and “Florida Girl” to even more alternative music inspired like on the breakdown of “The Soundtrack”. A purposeful choice, acting as a reflection of who she is as an artist and as a love letter to her homestate, Florida.
This album is both so beautiful, so dreamy, and evokes such nostalgia and longing on some songs that I genuinely get choked up. While also being incredibly fun and upbeat at other times. This album is an absolute love letter to growing up in the south and growing up in general. There’s a push and pull felt throughout that goes between loving where you came from and absolutely hating it, feeling like you don’t belong there. This push and pull applies to Neps writing about queer love, wanting to be someone or be with that person.
I absolutely recommend this album and Nep, as a whole. I cannot wait for everyone else to be introduced to Noelle and thank you again to Nep and her team for giving me early access.
P.S.
Speaking from experience, she is absolutely stellar live, so definitely check her out if she is coming to a city near you.
