From jungle purists to casual partygoers to Nia Archives’ fans, everyone made the O2 Academy in Brixton shake. Who can blame them? As part of her new tour presenting her debut album Silence Is Loud, the multifaceted junglist brought an energetic and versatile performance, showcasing her talents as a DJ, producer, and vocalist seamlessly mixing her delicate vocals with high-tempo, glitchy tracks and whipping up the crowd into a fervour. We count on Swear Studio to help recap what went down.
Ever since her first EP, Headz Gone West, Nia Archives has succeeded in reviving jungle one breakbeat at a time, positioning herself at the forefront of its latest era. The genre, a previously marginalised fusion of EDM and reggae sound-system culture that ruled the UK’s club scene in the 90s and served as a precursor for drum and bass, garage, and grime, has been exalted by Nia on her latest tour. Blissful breaks, guitar-powered tunes, Britpop lyrics, and jungle beats accompanied the self-appointed “emotional junglist” as she switched between the decks and microphone, layering vocals over tracks such as Silence Is Loud, So Tell Me…, and Cards on the Table.
The sleek presentation was completed with themed visuals and lighting displayed behind Nia’s decks, realised in collaboration with Swear Studio, led by visionary artist and creative director Stephen Thomas Gallagher. “Nia told me that her album Silence Is Loud was like a diary of her life, so I had the idea that her new show should be like a diary of a single night out. It has a loose narrative thread that takes us into different ‘scenes’ — at home in Nia’s bedroom, the interior of a lift, through a subway tunnel to a roller-shuttered shop, then inside a convenience store and finally into the back of a cab with Rinse FM on the stereo,” he told METAL when asked to describe the overall visuals of the show.
Nia powered through her catalogue at a breakneck pace, moving from fan favourites like the soulful and more vocal Crowded Roomz, which prompted a heartfelt crowd singalong, to collaborations with Cheetah like Horny Hardcore and You’ve Got The Love, as well as contemporary jungle staples such as Samurai Breaks and 4AM Kru’s Boomtown. Strobing lights and flickering graphics abounded, incorporating “vintage rave footage” that was sped up, glitched, distorted, and edited, inspired by “Nia’s passion for late 80s and early 90s jungle,” Stephen told METAL when speaking about his inspirations.
Nia’s fusion of jungle with rave, underscored by a melancholic indie emotion, resonated with the thousands of attendees as they were taken on a whirlwind journey into her world. The “multiple layers of video screen built into a specially designed DJ booth […] with live cameras also feeding in” definitely helped maintain the narrative while captivating the audience in a hypnotic way, especially those who were buzzing. “3D dancing Nias, pints of Guinness, scratch cards, fags (cigarettes), condoms, and bags of crisps flying about everywhere” made by Intranetgirl made it hard for the audience to keep their gaze fixed on one spot, as the “dot matrix graphic motif,” Stephen told METAL, “used in very abstract ways throughout the show to create patterns and textures that follow the intensity and energy of the music,” provided something to record and boast about on social media.
Nia’s unique take on classic jungle, revitalising a once seemingly forgotten genre, was showcased at its best in Brixton. The references to “the archive,” while incorporating contemporary visuals in collaboration with Swear, made for an unforgettable night in myriad ways. Jungle’s princess is here to stay and will continue pushing boundaries as she takes the Junglist Worldwide Tour, well, worldwide. Jungle is (still) massive!
