Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to dive headfirst into a new week of January with yet another daily track on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 21-year-old musician who was born in Leeds and raised in Manchester, Nia Archives is a London-based singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist who you may remember from the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP that she released last April that we discussed a few times on the blog. Nia Archives is an exciting new artist who fuses a range of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Drill and Techno, House and Jungle elements into her melting pot of sounds. She is also the founder of the ‘HIJINX’ label, which is also the name of her visual archive of short DIY-style film documentaries which was a side project that she started before producing any music. Her influences includes names like Burial, J Dilla and Roots Manuva. She has recently released the follow-up track to her ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ single that she released last October with a heavier-than-usual dance recording that she implores us, lyrically, was designed for ’18 and Over’. She digs into her Carribean heritage for her new single that samples one of her favourite classic Reggae cuts – ‘Young Lover’ by Cocoa Tea from 1987. The Taliable-directed music video pays homage to London’s sound-system culture and references ‘Yardie’ films like ‘The Harder They Come’ and ‘Babylon’ from the 60’s and 70’s. She comments, “For the ’18 and Over’ video, I knew that the visuals had to be iconic as the song is an absolute banger. Working with Taliable who was the director and editor was super fun, I feel we creatively gelled really well to create this vibrant piece”, in her press statement. Let’s check it out if you are ’18 and Over’ below.
Nia continues, “The actual video was shot in my warehouse yard, I thought it would be sick to use that space as no one has ever shot a music video there – meaning it is unique to me. We kept things even more local by asking Hackney native Mark Solution if he could set up his wicked ‘Solution Soundsystem’ – it was an honour to feature it in my video”, adding, “There are also some references to the original record that I sampled for viewers to spot”, in her press notes. Starting off with chirping bird sounds that remind me of the sweetness of Aphex Twin’s ‘Syro’ from 2014 in the classic Jungle template, paired up to a steady breakbeat instrumental, Nia develops the soundscape further with a driving bass line and some twinkling Synths as she layers her vocals above the main hook of the focused sample of “Now, this one was designed for 18 and over” with a psychedelic Neo-Soul backing as the breakbeats get continually more fragmented throughout the progress of adding her own lyrics. The glistening synths soon augment into a booming bass beat that feels like a nuanced representation of Dub-rooted texture that she playfully gives a UK drum & bass twist as the ethereal mix warps into a Jungle aesthetic, eventually leaving behind a central emphasis on the early 90’s rave melodies that give us a spellbinding symphony of breakbeats, as the lyrics promise to give us. While the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP leaned into her anxieties on entering a relationship and overthinking her intimate emotions, ’18 & Over’ is a purer exploration of the Post-Garage and Jungle-driven feel that has always existed within her sound. It all feels very exciting and gripping as a result, creating very surprising shifts in production and fusing her early sound with a flipside of some traditional Reggae to pay homage to her Jamaican heritage and the country’s creative output. A heavy and engrossing evolution of her artistry that is unique to her.
If you also think that Nia Archives is one of the most engaging new artists to follow in 2022, check out my previous post about ‘Headz Gone West’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/05/03/todays-track-nia-archives-headz-gone-west/
That brings us to a pretty thrilling end to today’s track on the blog. Many blessings for showing your support and I’ll be back tomorrow as we continue to hear some of the most important voices in the industry with the next post that arrives tomorrow. It will come your way by a Harlem-based poet, teacher and founding member of the Spoken Word band The Last Poets, who were widely considered to be the first Hip-Hop group.
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