Emotional Junglist

Nia Archives released her debut album Silence Is Loud in 2024.^[1] Following the album, she released a remix of the PinkPantheress song "Illegal" in 2025.^[1]

Nia Archives released "Danger" as a single and music video on 26 March 2026.^[2] On 29 April 2026, she announced the album and released the single and music video, "Boys in Blue".^[3] The album's third single, "Vertical", was released on 4 June 2026 alongside a music video.^[4] "Get Me Down", featuring Jorja Smith, was released on 10 July 2026 alongside a music video.^[5]

Nia Archives explained the album's title stating: "To be an Emotional Junglist is to feel everything and nothing all at once. It's to be calm yet chaotic, sane yet manic – up, down and sideways."^[6] She cited Ray of Light by Madonna, Blur, Pulp, Saint Etienne, and Massive Attack as influences on the album.^[7] The album was written throughout a year in which she fell in love with and began a romantic relationship with a man who then broke up with her.^[7]

Emotional Junglist contains elements of jungle, R&B, Britpop, indie pop, breakbeats, and alternative rock.^[8][1][9] The album follows a relationship of Nia Archives's that ultimately ended in a breakup, with the first half "filled with love and the crackle of a new relationship" and the second half "deals with the fallout from an abrupt break-up".^[10]

The album opener "Feelingz Go Numb" features a jungle beat with string samples, staccato hi-hats, and a punky bassline over layered vocal loops.^[11][1][12] "Around Tha Bend" has a "surf-rock groove", "reggae inflections", and "guitar-forward production".^[1][12] "Danger", originally written for Rihanna, features sexually charged lyrics and incorporates elements of dancehall and industrial music.^[10][13] "Vertical" is a "swooning, lovesick ode" with a bridge that conjures "the matchless intensity of a burgeoning relationship".^[8][14] "This Could Be…" is a hopeful indie pop track featuring "fast-picked guitars and drum fills" in its instrumental.^[1][15][14] "Dance with Me 2nite" is a flirtatious orchestral pop song.^[12][16] "Get Me Down", featuring Jorja Smith, is "slinky and melodramatic" with "thunderous bass and subtle drum patterns".^[8][16] It samples tropical bird sounds from "Wind Chimes Bird and Streams", popularized by the 808 State song "Pacific State".^[11][16] "Train Of Thought" is a liquid drum and bass and indie pop song.^[13][17] "Superlust", also an indie pop song, features "sunny keys and tumbling vocals".^[17][14]

"Almost Always" is a ballad with a post-punk guitar line and a trap beat.^[15][13][17] "Tender" features vocals from Sampha and is an "open song of longing".^[8] Sampha originally joined the song's creation as a producer before introducing his own vocals.^[10] "Tha Darkest Hour" features an orchestral sweep and lyrics about heartbreak and emptiness.^[13][9] "Lovers Grief" is about heartbreak, with elements of indie rock.^[8][15] "Boys in Blue" recounts when her ex-boyfriend called the police on her during their breakup.^[14][10]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Any Decent Music	7.7/10[18]
Metacritic	80/100[19]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The Arts Desk	[11]
Clash	8/10[13]
DIY	[6]
The Guardian	[15]
musicOMH	[16]
NME	[8]
Pitchfork	7.9/10[14]
The Skinny	[20]
Slant	[17]

Close

Any Decent Music gave the album a weighted average^[21] score of 7.7 out of 10 from fourteen critic scores.^[18] According to Metacritic, it received "generally favorable" reviews based on a weighted average^[22] score of 80 out of 100 from fifteen critic scores.^[19]

Writing for The Guardian, Aimee Cliff praised the album as an "ambitiously expansive and quintessentially gen Z project that puts jungle in conversation with a myriad of other genres, weaving a narrative through them all."^[15] Will Pritchard of Pitchfork wrote that Nia Archives "accesses a new, emboldened register, and pushes jungle music into fresh, vulnerable territory" on the album.^[14] Writing for PopMatters, John Amen scored the album 9/10, writing, "Nia Archives' new album captures a gifted artist and producer as she transcends her influences, claiming and reveling in her own bewitching style".^[12] Writing for Clash, Robin Murray described the album as a "dense mosaic of sounds" with "pure and distinct" feelings.^[13] NME's Alex Rigotti wrote that Nia Archives "expands her sonic palette and bears the rawest parts of her psyche" on the album.^[8] Tara Joshi of The Observer praised the album as "ambitious" and "built on vivid storytelling and vibrant production."^[23] Calum Skuodas' review for The Skinny was critical of the album's bedroom pop sound as "a little repetitive" with "too much filler" on the album.^[20]

The album was shortlisted for the 2026 Mercury Prize.^[24]

These credits have been adapted from Tidal.^[25]

• Nia Archives – vocals (all tracks)
• Chris Gehringer – mastering (all tracks)
• James Ford – synthesiser (tracks 1–11 and 13–15); bass, drums, guitar, programming, slide guitar (tracks 2–11 and 13–15)
• Ethan P. Flynn – background vocals (tracks 2 and 10); electric guitar (tracks 2–3, 6, and 8); programming (tracks 2–4 and 10); synthesiser (tracks 2–6, 8, and 10); recording (tracks 3, 5–6, and 10); sound design (tracks 4–5); acoustic guitar (tracks 5–6, 8, and 10); bass guitar (tracks 6 and 8), Mellotron (track 8)
• Jorja Smith – vocals (track 7)
• Sampha Sisay – vocals, piano, programming, synthesiser (track 12)
• Ed Thomas – electric guitar (track 15)
• Matt Karmil – mixing (tracks 1–2, 4–5, and 7–14)
• Tom Norris – mixing (tracks 3, 6, and 15)
• Victor Verpillat – engineering assistance, mixing (tracks 3, 6, 15)