Britain’s favourite junglist gets emotional on her sweeping, sensational sophomore album – a second Mercury Prize-nominated opus. Ahead of her appearance at All Points East and her headline slot of Amex Afters, the festival’s official afterparty, the 26-year-old polymath talks growth, graft, and getting the party started. 

It’s hard to think of two words to better describe Nia Archives than the pair that she bestowed upon her sophomore album: Emotional Junglist. They, to many, may seem oxymoronic; jungle, an electronic music sub-genre that rose to prominence in 1990s Britain through its choppy breakbeats, zippy tempos and dub-to-dancehall samples, is more synonymous with rave culture and pirate radio stations than seen as a musical style that explores the crevices of introspection. But the Yorkshire-raised, London-based Nia has spearheaded a contemporary revamping of what jungle can be. She’s become this decade’s emblem of junglism, celebrating its singular intricacies while adapting it for the modern pop landscape.

From her debut single “Sober Feels”, back in 2020 – self-funded with her student loan – there was an immediate buzz around the Archives revolution. She brought something invigorating and unique, criss-crossing sonic motifs with a confident yet delicate ease. 2021’s debut EP “Headz Gone West” and second follow-up “Forbidden Feelingz” – and their respective twisting and thrilling title-track anthems – secured her reputation as one of Britain’s most innovative new artists. The opening track from her 2023 third EP, “Baianá”, is one of the quintessential British electronic tracks of the 2020s. 

After years of building her name on the live circuit – even supporting Beyoncé at one of her Tottenham Stadium dates in summer ’23 – and with a trifecta of acclaimed EPs in tow, April 2024 saw Nia unleash her Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, Silence Is Loud. Heralded for its bold and inventive junglist revivalism, made in just a fortnight, the 13-track record cultivated a fine-chiselled production identity, while hinting at something deeper and rounded to come.

Emotional Junglist, Nia’s second album, shared on 17th July (which has also been touted as one of the albums of the year by the Mercury Prize), took a lot longer to complete than its predecessor; and it sounds like it – sprawling, visceral, rousing, sensational. 

“This album is an evolution of all of my musical interests and what I was trying to achieve on my debut,” she says, dialling in to reflect a couple of weeks after its release. “I feel that I’ve naturally progressed into making what I’ve made on this new project.” Rather than individual pieces of technicality, the new record is a cohesive and compelling narrative from top to bottom. There’s still plenty of moments of immaculate beat-mastery – no one does drums quite like Nia – but there’s also personal, intimate songwriting, expressive and experimental use of her distinct vocal, and naturalistic instrumentation. 

To achieve this, she brought together a medley of musical maestros. Renowned producer James Ford (Fontaines D.C., Geese) and multi-hyphenate Ethan P. Flynn (FKA twigs, Martha Skye Murphy) were present to nurture Nia’s musical universe into something more stylistically varied yet singularly Archivesial. Equally fascinating and effective was her decision to collaborate with one of pop’s paramount songwriters, Julia Michaels (Lady Gaga, Sabrina Carpenter). 

“I really wanted to up the levels of everything that I was doing, including the songwriting and the singing,” Nia explains. “Working with great songwriters really pushed me to try different things that I wouldn’t normally try.”

The two featured artists on the album also epitomise Nia’s enduring impact and reputation as one of the UK’s premium talents. There’s Sampha on the gorgeous, adeptly titled “Tender”, and Jorja Smith on the big swinging single “Get Me Down”. The latter Walsall-native has been a friend of Nia’s for years, with the pair first collaborating on a remix of Jorja’s 2023 cut “Little Things”. The pair are further solidifying their personal and musical connection later this month at the event in everyone’s calendar.

All Points East have really outdone itself this year, with headliners including pop superstar Lorde, rock legends Deftones, and a double-bill from alt rap trailblazer Tyler, the Creator. But it’s Jorja – alongside co-headliner Tems – that’ll open this year’s proceedings at Victoria Park in East London on 21st August. Nia is joining the line-up for a coveted evening slot on West Stage, which will see her in a completely new formation: performing with a band.

 “It’s definitely a new skill that I’m learning in real time in front of lots of people,” she smiles. “But I’m enjoying the challenge.”

For those of us who still need to scratch the DJ itch, the pinnacle of the party, the Amex Afters has, in the last few years, pulled in heavy hitters like Little Simz, Tems and JADE, Nia Archives (alongside R&B voyager Odeal, who’ll headline an afterparty on Friday 21st August) is this year’s star. She’ll be headlining Amex Afters with Nia Archives, a one-off show on Saturday 29th August at Hackney Wick’s Colour Factory, the official afterparty after Tyler, The Creator’s second show, and will be joined by Cheetah, Riria, Sexy Lady Massive and Zillion. You can grab your tickets to the big night here. 

Below, Nia talks exclusively to Wonderland about finding her feet as a frontwoman, her relationship with Jorja Smith, and laying it all on the table for her second album.

Listen to Emotional Junglist…

Read the interview…

How has releasing an album in the heat of summer been? 

I don’t know if I’d do it again, to be honest with you. I also accidentally released an album in the busiest month for music ever. But it’s been fun; I’ve done some fun activities because it’s been summer. And maybe this album should have come out in the summer; by the time winter comes, everyone will know the lyrics, and it’s a bit of a soundtrack for people.

It’s such a great body of work. How do you feel now it’s out in the world? Do you feel relieved or are you a bit melancholic?

I think it’s both. It’s kind of a comedown when you work towards a project for so long, talking about it, thinking about it all the time. And then it comes out on release day, and you’re a bit like, ‘Okay, is this it? Is this the sum of my work?’ But then every day since release day, I’ve felt happier and happier, and relieved that people aren’t absolutely hating it. Because the second album is such a worry. I was so nervous with the second album curse and all. Everyone’s been fear-mongering me about the second-album-scares, so I’ve been really stressed about it for months, like, oh my god, is this gonna be the make-or-break of my career? But luckily, it’s not been a break. It’s been…it’s been good. But yeah, I’ve been a bit up and down with the emotions about releasing a second project.

Do you think the imposter syndrome of artistry sets in with the sophomore? Because your debut album is this singular vision, this all-encompassing moment, and then it’s like, how do you follow that up? Do you think the second album is best approached as a blank slate?

I think imposter syndrome is very real for the second album. For me, what I’ve struggled with is the outside opinions. Because when you make the first project, you just make something, and it is what it is. And I made my last project in two weeks. Then, obviously, you start to get reviews and maybe even accolades, which is amazing. But the pressure from that is that everyone around you is like, ‘Oh my God, we need to do better than we did last time,’ and I don’t think that’s an environment that good music and good art can thrive in. So I had to ignore a lot of people. You can’t talk about your ambitions before you make the music. You need to make it and then see where you want it to sit.

But I didn’t feel the pressure of like, ‘Oh, I made my debut album, so now I need to make something completely different.’ I feel like this album is an evolution of all of my musical interests and what I was trying to achieve on my debut. I feel that I’ve naturally progressed into making what I’ve made on this new project. Maybe the third one will be the one where I go crazy, but I feel like you can do that on the third one. You can do whatever you want. I feel like this album has given me the freedom to make a trip hop album next if I want to, or an old school 90s jungle album. It’s really opened the door without losing my sense of artistic morality and my belief system. It’s the older sister of Silence is Loud. 

It’s certainly more cohesive and confident, and it sees you really lean further into the craft of songwriting. How did working with songwriters like Julie Nichols bring out your own songwriting acumen?

I’ve never really seen myself as a singer/songwriter kind of artist. I’ve always been a producer first. I would say over the past six years that I’ve written good songs, but it’s not something I’ve been really hyper-focused on. Whereas with this project, I really wanted to up the levels of everything that I was doing, including the songwriting and the singing. So working with great songwriters just really pushed me to try different things that I wouldn’t normally try, like singing in keys that I really would not sing in before. 

Looking through the credits, there’s such a range of producers, writers and musicians involved, from Ethan P. Flynn to James Ford. Did you purposely choose a wide range of collaborators?

I worked with Ethan on the last album, and he’s a really good friend of mine, so I definitely wanted to work with him on this one. And then James Ford – I met him just before I started making this album and told him I would love to work with him. And then we ended up making it happen, and he was really fun to work with as well. We finished quite a lot of it at his home studio, so it’s been really great to work with two people that I consider musical geniuses. For me as a producer, it was a massive inspiration to work with both of them. I’ve learned so much about the process of making music. 

What did you take from the process of making Silence Is Loud that you learnt and grew from for Emotional Junglist? 

I’ll be honest with you, I actually found the first album really easy to make because I was on tour a lot, so I was trying to get the tunes done. Ethan and I just spent three hours on each tune and then did not come back to them. So I wouldn’t say that there was any musical stress. The one thing I did do on the last album that I’ve really tried not to repeat this time is just not enjoying the process. Obviously there’s been times when I’ve really stressed out about the process, but I think overall, I’ve enjoyed it more than I did last time. Before, I was very uncomfortable in my own skin and hated the attention and stuff like that. I’m not saying that I love it more now, but I’m more chilled with how to deal with it. Signings and stuff like that, I’m actually looking forward to now, meeting people that listen to my music, whereas with the first album, I just remember feeling really awkward and uncomfortable. So I think personal growth and confidence is the real change for me.

In Sampha and Jorja Smith as the album’s features, you’ve got two of the best names in modern British music. First of all with Sampha, where did that relationship come from, and how did “Tender” come together?

I was working at a spare studio in [Sampha’s label] Young a couple of years ago with Ethan [P. Flynn], because I didn’t have a proper studio at the time. So I was in the Young building quite a lot, and Sampha’s obviously got a studio in there, so I would see him in the corridor, and we’d awkwardly say hey for a couple of months. Then we just made clocks that were actually both quite similar types of people, both a bit awkward and shy. So I think we just had quite similar vibes, and then I got in with him for a session, but a producer session, not with him as a vocalist. And then we’re making this tune, “Tender”. I made the drums, and he was using loads of different mad synths. And then he was like, ‘Oh, do you mind if I sing a little bit?’ So he ended up blessing me with a vocal that he did. But yeah, it was a really lovely, natural meeting. Rather than some sessions that feel really intense, it was a really chilled and fun one, and we made a really beautiful song from it.

And with Jorja, that relationship has been there for a little bit longer, right? You worked together before on your remix of her track “Little Things” a few years ago. How did that first happen, and how did this tune “Get Me Down” come back as well?

Yeah, we worked together on the remix in 2023, and then our friendship has just grown since then. I love Jorja; she’s such a lovely, bubbly, obviously very talented person, and just fun to be around. I don’t know why, but I’d never really thought about us making a tune together. Eventually we did a session, and we actually did it up north; I travelled up to see her. We made these two tunes last summer in the countryside; it was really fun to write together. It was collaborative and easy. It was like when you’re with your cousins in the summer holidays, and you perform for your family, for your uncles and aunties; it was kind of that vibe. And yeah, I love the song that we made, and we got to do the video together, which I co-directed with my friend. She’s got her album coming up too, and we’ve got All Points East. So I’m very excited to maybe do something there.

Is there anyone on the All Points East bill that you’re playing on that you’re particularly excited to see?

I’m obviously really excited to see Jorja; I think that’s going to be really great. I know she’s been doing loads of rehearsals and stuff, so I’m excited to see that. I’ve never seen Tems before. I really like her. I obviously love Maverick Sabre; Bricknasty are really cool. I really like what they’re doing. I met them actually in Dublin a couple of months ago, and I thought they were really cool. I’m also excited to see Wesley Joseph; I really liked his album.

For this album’s tour, you’re performing live with a band for the first time, right?

My plan is to do both band headlines and DJ after-parties, so there’s a bit of both still. I think I want to still be connected to both sides of my work and my craft. I’ve just done these B2B in-store parties for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been really fun DJing. I realised that DJing is a lot lower stakes than being in a band. It’s a lot more straightforward and easier. 

How’s that transition been into a band? Is there more responsibility in being this centre point on the stage?

It’s scary to learn a new skill at this age, but it’s also nice because I feel I don’t really get to learn that much at the moment. A lot of my mid-to-late 20s has been me repeating what I learned five years ago. So it’s nice to learn something new, and I’m really enjoying figuring out who I am as a frontwoman. Obviously, the album’s out now, so it feels like it makes sense [to play with a band], and that people get it.

You’re also headlining the Amex Afters on 29th August at Colour Factor. What can we expect from that?

All Points East will be a great example of what I think I should be doing. The band shows in the daytime, and then the afters should be fun party vibes. I’ve got a lot of tunes I’m going to play, a lot of stuff from my label, Up Your Archives, a lot of artists on there that I’m gonna be spinning some exclusives from. I’ve been playing a lot of 4/4 jungle techno lately, because I think it’s exciting. Obviously, I love old-school jungle, but I feel like jungle techno is really fresh at the moment.

With Up Your Archives, what’s the plan? What are you hoping to achieve in the next couple of years?

There’s so much that I want to achieve, not just for myself, but for my community. We’re keeping going with the releases; there have been some really cool releases the past couple of months. I think I’d love to develop artists too, because I’ve got a lot of producers at the moment, but it’d be cool to have a few artists on the label that I can work with to help figure out what they want to do. And obviously, we’ve been doing our Warehouse Project takeovers for the past few years, so it’d be cool to do some kind of festival or something in the future.

Words – Ben Tibbits