Liverpool-born, Cornwall-based DIY songwriter Nell Davies returns with her new single ‘The End of the World or Whatever’, and it’s a bittersweet gem of bubblegum punk melancholy.
The track sparkles with jangly indie-pop hooks, but beneath the sugar is a gut-punch of loss — a song about broken friendship, sadness, and the quiet bravery of carrying on. It’s catchy, it’s wry, and it aches in all the right places.
True to form, Nell recorded the vocals in the pigsty at the end of her garden (the shouty parts reportedly set off every dog in the valley — sorry neighbours), and filmed the DIY video in her living room. That handmade honesty has always been Nell’s superpower: unpolished, unpretentious, and all the more powerful for it.
Since first picking up a guitar in lockdown, inspired by Viv Albertine’s autobiography, Nell has been steadily carving her place in the post-punk pop landscape. With BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio already singing her praises, and gigs lined up supporting Evan Dando (which, as she rightly says, is worth shouting about forever), ‘The End of the World or Whatever’ feels like another bold step forward.
It’s sad. It’s brave. It’s brilliant.