Nia Archives

Recently I came across the idea of the IndieWeb Carnival, where people write blog posts on a particular theme. The theme in May was love letters. Lately I’ve been completely enthralled by Nia Archives, and this felt like a good opportunity to write about her. I didn’t have the spoons to get the draft finished and published back then. But this weekend her new album dropped so felt inspired to complete it.

Nia is a phenomenon. A fantastically talented woman. She makes jungle music, releasing some incredible records. She writes and performs her own lyrics, with a catchy, laconic style of her own. She records many of her own music videos. She runs her own record label, Up Ya Archives. A few years ago the MOBO Awards essentially created a new category in order to give her an award. Since then she’s warmed up for Beyoncé on her tour and performed at Glastonbury. She’s a star.

In 2020, she sent her first single round to all the record labels; they all said no. So she released it herself; spent the last of her student loan on Instagram adverts. I could probably write something about pretty much every record she’s released - I haven’t heard anything that isn’t class. But I’ll pick a few that really hit me.

First up, some pure dancefloor material. Off Wiv Ya Headz is just incredible. Pure energy, fantastic percussion, and the way that bass comes in? The audacity just makes me laugh out loud, so good. Or the Brazilian funk-influenced Baianá; reckon I heard this soundtracking Match of the Day’s goal of the month montage recently. We’ve got ragga stylings on 18 & Over (slightly NSFW), proper heavy breaks, intense bassline, wild tempo shift in the middle.

But her style goes way beyond these pure dancefloor tracks, with songs and emotions and poetic lyrics. So Tell Me… sees Nia talking about how her head gets stuck in a loop of revisiting events over and over wondering what she could have said or done differently - very familiar to me. Gud Gudbyez is about the end of a relationship, choosing to look after herself, finding the good in an ending / beginning; really feel this one. The lyrics are actually incredible - short, punchy, really excellent way of communicating complex emotions in just a few words; but combined with a really catchy way with tons of stylistic effects. Oh, and of course, layered atop some fantastic beats. Jungle music rarely even has lyrics, and here’s Nia making one emotional song after another.

Besides all these singles and EPs, Nia has a new album, Emotional Junglist, just released on Friday. Her first album, Silence Is Loud, is that rare thing - an album without a poor track, pure quality from start to finish. Emotional, complex, brilliant. So good that I often listen to it again as soon as I finish it. Nia cited Britpop as one of the influences on the album, and I can totally hear some of that vibe - Britpop via jungle. Was really looking forward to the new one.

And wow. Emotional Junglist. What an album. Leans more heavily into the Britpop / indie sound; lots of jungle but very different. Never heard anything quite like it. But it’s good. Like really, really good. Telling the story of a failed romance over the course of 2025. The raw, primal passion of Danger (very NSFW)¹, or the intensity of getting lost in somebody in Vertical. The pure, vulnerable hope in This Could Be… (all the more poignant upon repeat listens, knowing where it all ended). The devastation of Lovers Grief; that special contempt of the infinite let down in Boys In Blue. Nia’s vocals shine through the whole album; her incredible ability to rhyme words, her way to communicate, her lyrics. Sounds reminiscent of early Prodigy, old rave motifs; Nia really knows her music history, too. Listened to this album more than half a dozen times already over the weekend. Love it. Emotional indeed.

Aside from her own releases, her label, Up Ya Archives, is about a year old. Seems like her focus may be on promoting other artists in the scene - it doesn’t really feature much of her own work. Already within the first year are some incredible tracks. Fez The Kid - Ghost Ship; Janaway - Code Switch; Worsleyy & Chimpo - Northern Step. Underground business.

Nia was born towards the end of 1999, so she is essentially a product of the 21st Century. Despite all the difficulties the world is throwing up these days, Nia (and artists like her) are out here excelling. It makes me happy to see such a strong, vibrant youth culture, keeping the underground spirit alive, and such talent as this to come from modern Britain.