Northern powerhouse Nia Archives taught herself to produce aged 17, after she left home. The past few years have seen her at the cliff face of the youthful drum’n’bass revival, winning plaudits and racking up awards for her party-starting DJ sets and emotional writing. Like her previous EPs, this latest release showcases Archives’ versatility, demonstrating how jungle lends itself to updates as varied as Brazilian party music, jazzy side notes and lo-fi introspection.
Already a hit, the joyous, hectic banger Baianá samples the Barbatuques choir and sounds like all of carnival, all at once. Conveniency, meanwhile, transmits the hurt of being someone’s “option number three” with acoustic guitar and Archives’ own bruised vocal. The mainstream-facing No Need 2 B Sorry, Call Me? deploys Maverick Sabre as this artist-producer’s first featured guest, with effective but underwhelming results. It’s the vinyl crackle, cheeky sample and comedown feel of the title track that wins the battle of the unreleased songs, at once pensive and rhythmically brutal.
