Exploring the Raw Restlessness of Florida Girlhood in Nep's Debut Album 'Noelle'

Review by Allie LaRoe

'Noelle' by Nep out via Harbour Artists & Music October 24, 2025

Noelle, the spirited debut of Florida songwriter and performer Nep, vibrates with infectious youth. It’s got that unselfconscious cool-girl energy that feels like a blend of Juliana Hatfield and Lowen. Each track is woven with open enthusiasm — a self-exploratory optimism. You’re drawn in, partly through Nep’s lyrics and partly through a haze of your own memories, into a state of restless possibility.

The album opens with “Girls on TV,” a playfully instrumented examination of comparison and admiration. It flows seamlessly into “Soundtrack.” Aside from a jump scare when the distortion comes in, “Soundtrack” serves as a great bus track—something to bob your head to as you stare out the window, remembering all the times music fed an impossible longing.

Nep has gained a reputation for her self-deprecating humor, both in her songwriting and online presence. It’s this humor that candidly declares “Daytona sucks” in track three, “Biketober.”

It’s a sentiment that transcends geography — the feeling of having outgrown your hometown but not being able to move on just yet. The words “Daytona sucks” appear in multiple songs, making it a recurring theme. The first time it feels refreshingly honest, but the humor fades with repetition.

Maybe it’s because I’m old enough that my knees hurt if I don’t stretch in the morning. Maybe it’s because my own hometown was so dull it makes Daytona Beach look like a metropolis. But by the third song explicitly declaring “Daytona sucks,” I wanted to groan, “Okay — I get it already.”

Nep’s music doesn’t shy away from depth or complexity. Songs like “I Close My Eyes” and the title track “Noelle” are evocative, both lyrically and compositionally.

“I Close My Eyes” is dreamy, with gently delivered Billie Eilish-esque vocals. However, the lyrics reveal a torment of jealousy and the feeling of constantly falling short, rather than a fantasy playing out behind shut eyelids. The vision shifts to a haunting with “Noelle,” a song as delicately vibrant as “a butterfly in motion.”

“Daytona” breaks the spell with raucous guitar. If there could only be one song with the words “Daytona sucks” in it, I would vote for this one. It vibrates with a desperation to outrun the teeth of the real world. This song begs for rolled-down windows and high volumes, ideally while speeding away from the confines of your past.

“Black Car Song” follows as the third and final “Daytona sucks” song. While I could have done without that specific line, I appreciated the song as a whole. It captures the feeling of missing someone and hoping to catch a glimpse of them through the window of a passing car.

Songs like “Scar” play with arrangement, transitioning from a glossed-over verse to curt, gritty choruses that depict the dissolution of a friendship. Then, they fade seamlessly into a fingerpicked forgiveness in “I Will Always Love You.” “All Around Beauty” starts softly before the clouds part to reveal a luminous pop-rock core. “July” sees the return of the album’s namesake, Noelle, but now the tables of envy have turned as a web of resentment dissolves, replaced by a renewed appreciation for life.

The album concludes with “Florida Girl,” an ode to the messy, fearless, and unrepentant babes making the most of their geography.

Noelle has the cohesive story of a concept album, as Nep explores the exultant highs and tumultuous lows of untangling one’s true identity from societal expectations. The lyrics are, at times, deeply symbolic and, at other times, immersively descriptive.

It’s a fun, riotous debut that feels a bit like a flashback and a bit like the fountain of youth.