An impossibly coherent album – ‘Theta’ by Brymo.

With Africa blessed with a plethora of talented artistes, it takes a lot of guts for one to call themselves ‘THE BEST.’ That’s where Brymo says, “hold my beer!” He takes it a step further by calling himself the world’s first ‘Sonic-Artist.’ What does that even mean?
The Nigerian singer-songwriter describes his music as, “listening to a painting,” which he goes on to prove on his latest offering. His 10th Studio album ‘Theta,’ released on 27th May, 2022. The album title in classical Athens, was used as an abbreviation for the Greek θάνατος (thanatos, “death”) and as it vaguely resembles a human skull, ‘Theta’ was used as a warning symbol of death, in the same way the skull and crossbones are used in modern times.
Is this the message this 10 track album is trying to put across? Let’s deconstruct it track-by-track to see if that image appears at the end.

‘Illusions,’ which is the first song, starts off with very dark chords; mimicking the sound of impending danger, which was actually the case for the protagonist in the story; Boyi. Day in and day out, we are being sold different wrong perceptions which we unfortunately bite down on, only to face the repercussions.
Track 2. Okay, Brymo needs to make up his mind already at this point. In Track 1 he talks about the repercussions of not heeding to advice, and now on ‘Pim Pim’ he’s admonishing us to block out all the noise and go for what we want. What are we to do now? Maybe Track 3 might have an answer for us?
Ah, there it is! No other fitting answer than the message found in ‘Dem No Born Us Together.’ Literally speaking, we didn’t come from the same womb and at the same time, so what might work for me, might not work for you. That’s why we are presented with this paradox in the opening two tracks, it’s up to you to choose which works best for you.
Next up is ‘Love Na Drug.’ This song has a huge potential to be a popular fan favorite. The occasional strings adequately convey the emotive feeling needed to be felt.
At this point we are almost halfway through the entire album, with the 5th Track, ‘Money Good.’ I think since we’ve been able to get the paradox of life choices out of the way, we are now presented with the idea of the 2 essential things to today’s man; love and money. In track 4, Brymo speaks on how dangerous love can be and sings about how important money is on track 5. Full circle moment erh? Well, not yet.

On track 6, we are ushered into a smooth jazz ambience with a muted trumpet number at the start of the song. The mellow mood jazz puts across probably helps to say, ‘Life Dey Go On.’ Basically, nobody cares. No matter what life throws at you, you dust yourself up and keep it moving. That goes to say, one never knows what tomorrow holds.
So it’s no surprise the first few lines of the next track ‘Tomorrow,’ has Brymo saying, “All your problems temporary/You go succeed miraculously/Make e no hold back your glory…” Problems might be there for a season, but it gets better with time, hence, the need to enjoy life with equal measure.
Track 8 has a very electric feel to it. The right mood to portray the gory story he narrates on ‘Oga.’
After that murderous episode, justice must be sought. As old African customs would have it, the best place to that would be the ‘Market Square.’ Everyone’s view is believed to be valid here. Brymo tries to draw a parallel with today’s judgmental extremes made possible by the proliferation of social media. Again, everyone on social media believe their view is valid.
What does that mean ‘For You’ and I? The last track provides a perfect culmination to this important reportage of stories in the most insane systematic way. We might make different choices, think love is dangerous, overstate money’s importance, be too judgmental, but ultimately; nothing beats the love two people share and express to each other.

I’m blown away by how Brymo has made an impossibly coherent album at this point in his career. From henceforth, if that man says he was around during the creation of man I would believe him.

Checkout ‘Theta’ by Brymo here.