At only 21-years old Leeds-born Nia Archives has quickly become one of the most interesting new artists to arrive on the UK scene. Fresh off the success of her debut EP ‘Headz Gone West’ earlier this year, NIA has been catching people’s attention through her multi-layered sound which takes influence from her Jamaican heritage and her time within the British rave scene whilst living in Manchester.
She has now revealed her latest track, entitled ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ an electronic banger full of her signature Lo-Fi jungle sound and laced with Breakbeat, Dub and Reggae influences.
The track opens with a Reggae and Dub influenced bass-heavy sound, with a soundbite from 70’s murder detective Columbo playing over the Dub intro, this gives the track an engaging atmosphere and euphoric sound. We are then met with 90’s jungle influenced drums and breakbeats which drive the rest of the track, these drums create a sonic fusion with the bass creating a sound that is intoxicatingly transcendent and dance floor-ready.
Nia provides some vocals on the ‘Forbidden Feelingz’, in a more relaxed and reserved style, which are perfect for the vibe of the track as they don’t overwhelm the instrumental but rather complement it. The accompanying video, directed by Nia’s frequent collaborator Delphino is brilliant, filmed in a black and white style the video follows Nia throughout London and is full of imagery referencing black history in a stop motion style adding to the stylish feel of the video.
On the video, Delphino has said: “This was a really special and heartfelt project for both me and Nia. After she told us that she wanted to make something legendary, we knew that it was time to dig deep and search inside… The goal was to make something that would be nostalgic at any point in time. No matter if you watched it now or in years to come. Our aim was to create something that complimented the synergy between the vocals and instrumental. For the majority of scenes in the video, we cut out loads and loads of frames and mashed them together with stop motion.”
“This was an idea that we thought would best suit this video, as we wanted to try this for ages. As we progress with our art, we will strive to make pieces that really resonate with the authentic part of ourselves.”
Stylish, Hypnotic and dance floor-ready, ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ shows us why Nia has become one of the most exciting new artists to arrive in recent years and is someone who we should all keep an eye out for in the future.
