She grew up in Leeds on gospel at church and jungle, R&B and pirate radio at home, geeking out over breakbeats in her bedroom from her pre-teen years. Since her self-funded 2020 debut single Sober Feels, she’s pushed the mould, bringing an unexpected vulnerability to the bangers. Like the punk movement before it, her interest sits in jungle’s spirit as much as its sound.
Her 2024 debut album Silence Is Loud was the first jungle album in 20 years nominated for a Mercury Prize, and she’s since become the first jungle artist to earn three BRIT Award nominations. She campaigned for the MOBOs to introduce an electronic and dance category, then won it the first year it ran, and she runs her own label, Up Your Archives, to bring new dance talent through. She can play an underground rave one night and open for Beyoncé the next.
Her second album, Emotional Junglist, goes further again. “People know my rave girl era; this album is for the post-rave experience. I want to feminise junglism and celebrate the female gaze,” she says. “I hope that other women and girls find parts of themselves in it.” With it comes a levelled-up live show, Nia stepping out from behind the decks as a performer in her own right.
Touring Australia for the first time in around two years and fresh from Beyond The Valley, Nia Archives plays the Northcote Theatre, Melbourne, on Wednesday 6 January 2027.
