“It’s happy and sad and all over the place”: Love’s ups and downs help the producer reset dance music’s boundaries. “This album is the fully realised idea of the sound I’ve been working on for the past few years,” Nia Archives tells Apple Music. “It’s happy and sad and all over the place—it’s music for an emotional junglist.” Since the release of her debut EP, Headz Gone West, in 2021, Bradford-born producer Nia Archives has been at the forefront of a breakbeat-fuelled dance-floor revival. Inspired by ’90s jungle as much as the soaring melodics of pop and introspective lyricism of singer-songwriters, Archives has whipped audiences into a frenzy with her energetic sound. The follow-up to 2024 debut album Silence Is Loud, Emotional Junglist is her musical mission statement. Across 15 tracks, Nia ranges from the punk-influenced jungle rhythms of “Danger” to the trip-hop moods of Jorja Smith feature “Get Me Down”, the country guitars of “There Goes Ma Head” and sexy sadness of “Lovers Grief”, all anchored in her signature ebullience. “It’s an album about the experience of love in all its forms,” she says. “It’s the positive and negative and the story of my growth over the past years.” Read on for Nia Archives’ in-depth thoughts on the album, track by track. “Feelingz Go Numb” “This is one of the first tracks I made before I started writing properly for the album. I really love it because it’s super cinematic and makes for a great opener with its strings melody. It reminds me of the energy of The Streets’ Original Pirate Material since it has a punky jungle vibe that I want to continue exploring on the next record.” “Around Tha Bend” “I made this song with my co-producer Ethan P. Flynn and the songwriter Livvi Franc, and it was the first song I made for the record specifically. I wanted to make something with Happy Mondays vibes, and it’s also inspired by the track ‘Imperfect List’ by Big Hard Excellent Fish, which is just a list of pet hates. ‘Around Tha Bend’ is similarly tongue-in-cheek.” “Danger” “‘Danger’ started life when I was in a writing camp for a pop star and met Livvi for the first time. The brief was to write something that felt like Vybz Kartel meets Nine Inch Nails, and we ended up with the lustful punky jungle of ‘Danger’. Thankfully, I got to use the track for myself, and I really like how fun and different it is from what I’ve done before.” “Vertical” “I was really inspired by Madonna’s Ray of Light, Björk’s Debut and Saint Etienne when I was writing this one and it’s become one of my favourites on the album because of its production. It has such a dreamy synth atmosphere to it since it’s about the feeling of having a crush.” “This Could Be…” “I initially made a more jungle and breaks version of this song with Ethan, and then we decided we should let the song shine and now it’s ended up sounding more like Pulp without the breaks. I love soundtrack music, and it reminds me of a 2000s rom-com.” “Dance with Me 2nite” “‘Dance with Me 2nite’ is one of the tracks that was the fastest to write on the album. It all happened in about 20 minutes when I was in a session with the songwriter Julia Michaels in LA. I usually work by myself so it’s been interesting to overshare with others on this record and find new ways to make music. I’ve never made a song that’s so poppy.” “Get Me Down” (feat. Jorja Smith) “I’ve been friends with Jorja for the past few years since I made a remix of [Smith’s 2023 single] ‘Little Things’, and it was so fun to work with her again on this. I wanted to make something that had trip-hop vibes like Massive Attack and that also has a jungle element. It’s more of a 5-am-at-the-afters feeling than being at the party.” “Train of Thought” “‘Train of Thought’ is one of my favourite songs on the project because of its ethereal production, which was inspired by Saint Etienne, and also its old-school jungle vibes that remind me of artists like Peshay. It sounds like summer.” “Superlust” “Some songs just pour out of you and this was one of them, which I made in the early days of writing the record in 2024. We had tried a few production ideas behind it but settled on leaving it stripped back so the top-line melodies can really come forward.” “There Goes Ma Head” “For some reason, this track really has country vibes for me. I made it with Ethan and the producer Lil C, and the big guitars that we wrote feel like cowboy country. The track goes back to my roots of jungle blended with being super emo. It’s about losing yourself to everything from relationships to partying.” “Almost Always” “‘Almost Always’ is a breakup song. It’s quite dark sounding and something about the rolling bass has a Fugees energy for me. It’s about the grief and disappointment you feel when things end up not working out.” “Tender” (feat. Sampha) “I had a production session booked in with Sampha, and we really bounced off each other well in the room. At one point, he asked permission to sing on the track, which of course he didn’t need to, and it was so lovely to blend our voices together like I did on the Jorja song. I love his signature piano sound and it makes the song the perfect mix of his sound and mine.” “Tha Darkest Hour” “On this one, I wanted to explore how far I could push my sound. I decided to go half time with the breakbeats and emulate a trip-hop feel since I was listening to a lot of [Bristol proto-trip-hop legends] Smith & Mighty at the time. It’s been fun to try different sounds mixed with my own across this album.” “Lovers Grief” “The title says it all in this track. If love doesn’t work out, it can feel like grief, and I love this tune because it feels quite sexy and also sad. It’s really fun to perform live because the bassline gives me Joy Division vibes and it also has no jungle drums on it, which is crazy for my music. There are no samples on the whole album either, it’s all live.” “Boys in Blue” “This was the last song I made for the project, and it felt like a great victory lap of all the emotions and themes on the record. It was fun to make as it came really quickly. I started it with the songwriter Ed Thomas in my studio and then finished with the producer James Ford, and we were so excited by it. It has moshy, festival vibes, and it’s so nice to end on a high with a banger!”