“I Feel Fantastic and I Can’t Behave” - Nxdia Makes Their Mark with Debut Record "I Promise No One’s Watching"

June brought the release of one of my most anticipated albums of the year: Nxdia’s debut mixtape, I Promise No One’s Watching. The record has been teased for some time, with singles being released throughout 2024 and 2025, garnering attention on TikTok. The 25-year-old Egyptian-Sudanese songwriter, real name Nadia Ahmed (all pronouns), moved to Manchester at age eight and mixes English and Arabic in their lyrics. I Promise No One’s Watching showcases Nxdia’s unique blend of alt-pop and indie rock, combined with unabashedly queer aesthetics and lyrics, whether it’s a love song, living out your identity, or just trying to figure things out in your twenties. 

The record opens on “Feel Anything,” which lulls you in with acoustic guitars and delicate vocals before launching into a raucous pop-rock track. The lyrics turn from optimistic to self-destructive, wanting to suppress feelings instead of dealing with them: “Don’t stop, get a drink/Throw up in the kitchen sink.” The catchy chorus, which went viral on TikTok, strikes a chord for many people in their twenties, setting a running theme throughout the album of being overwhelmed by emotions and choosing to numb yourself instead.

The second track, “Jennifer’s Body,” references the 2009 cult classic about a possessed high schooler who kills her male classmates while her best friend tries to stop her. The movie is especially popular among the queer community. On the dynamic pop-rock song, Nxdia writes about wanting someone despite knowing it’ll end badly, “She’s the kinda girl to rip your heart out/Oh, there’s no surviving her.” Similar themes are picked up again later in the album on “Puppet,” another catchy pop-rock song about putting yourself fully in someone else’s control, ‘Do what you want, girl / I’ll be your puppet.’

“Body on Me” and “More!” also run in a similar vein, capturing the excitement and spark of being completely obsessed with someone. They’re love songs in the most chaotic, impulsive way. “More!” leans more into alt-rock, with grittier vocals and an isolated, rhythmic pre-chorus, while songs like “Boo, Nevermind” fall more into the pop side. This song is a fun mix of frustration and affection and feels like a drunken night out, “You say you're above it, but you love it/Three drinks down, now fuck it.”  

“Boy Clothes” is one of my personal favorites on the record, a powerful, gritty alt-pop anthem about dysphoria and refusal of gender binaries. The lyrics explore the freedom of not just being in “boy clothes” or, as they put it in a press release, “everything you need to feel like hot shit,” but the attitude and lifestyle as well. It perfectly captures how being more true to your gender identity as well as escaping the restraints of the patriarchy, allows for a new feeling of liberation and “feel[ing] fantastic.”

“She Likes a Boy,” released in 2024, was the first song I heard by Nxdia, anxiously awaiting the release after a clip was posted on TikTok, and I know I’m not the only one. The song has amassed over 60 million streams on Spotify after going viral on sapphic TikTok. It’s not only the catchy melody that drew people in but the almost universal pain of crushing on a straight girl and knowing she won’t reciprocate, “She likes a boy/And I’m not a boy.”

“Nothing At All,” a groovy indie pop song, touches on feeling out of your depth and thrown in the deep end, something that resonates with many people in early adulthood, whether it’s university, a job, or just a new environment. However, Nxdia takes an optimistic approach, embracing that they “know nothing at all” and learning everything with a clean slate. This is echoed again on “Tin Man,” the last track on the album, focusing on “learning to stop running” and confronting your feelings, also linking back to “Feel Anything.” It beautifully brings the album to a close, and the softer indie pop allows for Nxdia’s vocals to shine once more.

I Promise No One’s Watching is an exciting debut album, bringing together everything that makes Nxdia’s music so unique. Especially in current times, having an out-and-proud queer voice in the scene makes a huge difference, and the way queer love and identity are touched on in this record feels so organic and fitting. The alt-rock sound Nxdia has carved out for themselves is dynamic and takes on many different shapes in this project, showcasing their versatility and leaving listeners excited for what comes next. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.