Official EP Cover Art
Tega Ethan’s mystique is quickly reckoned by the goofiness of his three-word Spotify artist bio, which wholly reads ‘SS3 Scrabble Champion’. The incongruous bio makes him look like an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously, but his art contrasts this narrative. The Indie Nigerian singer’s music is well-spoken of, and for. Ethan is as serious as it gets, or at least his music is.
The gifted musician lived most of his life in Ibadan, Nigeria where he nurtured his love for music into a burgeoning career. He has since moved to Lagos – the Country’s equivalent of Los Angeles.
The title of his 2023 EP, ‘Falling in Love is Like Lagos Traffic’, felt like a public announcement of his unwilling initiation into Lagos’ insane lifestyle, a full-frontal acceptance of the city’s chaotic love and living culture.
Romantic love is at the core of Ethan’s music and he explores his expressions in unconventional, varied musical styles. His fluid exposure to music is a perk that has accompanied the coveted advantage of being a multi-instrumentalist and music producer.
For the most part, Tega Ethan is an alternative musician, an explorer of a soundscape that isn’t overcrowded- at least not in the part of the World Tega is from.
His latest body of work, the interestingly titled ‘Time is a Holy Place: UNSTEADY’ intricately surrounds itself with the unconventional sonics of soft rock and Indie R&B. Ethan himself produces the six-track EP, a musical piece that is basically about the unhealthy, rollercoaster that is Ethan’s emotions.
Tega Ethan’s EP reveals his tumultuous nature, one that has him issuing sweet, melodic warnings at the record’s beginning “Don’t lean on me, no I am unsteady. Don’t give me your love, no I am not ready”.
Over soft guitar pickings, he puzzledly echoes the lines ‘Wait, No, Stay, No”, these lines are crucial to the song’s development as it chaperones listeners into the Unsteady ( pun most intended) mind of its progenitor. He sings beautifully over the self-arranged musical arrangements.
For Tega, time and personal villains are his greatest antithesis, preventing him from being a shoulder to cry on. He transparently accepts this unstable nature and gracefully dishes a disclaimer to his muse (s), a kind gesture if you ask this writer…well, till the dysfunctional nature of Tega’s feelings kicks in.
In track two, ‘Day After Tomorrow ( Zainab)’ he moves on from his state of self-pity, now cheerfully singing over a 2014 Imagine Dragon type beat. Ethan sings about a long-distance relationship that is bound to fail mostly due to his indecisiveness. As he counts the days till he smooches his far-distanced lover in the backseat of an airport taxi with an elevated tone, he counterstrikes the chances of the relationship lasting due to an inevitable ‘lack of focus’.
The music is punchy and happy. It moves you to dance, not minding that is at the expense of Tega’s euphoria being short-lived. The slow-burning ‘Ode to Imacho’, appears as a song written for another love interest. Here, he openly admits to being in love but in the spirit of his quizzical temperament, he questions the periodic convenience of his emotions. It just isn’t the right time for Tega. How could it be? The burden of purpose weighs heavy, coupled with perceived traumatic experiences.
Ultimately, ‘Time Is A Holy Place: Unsteady’ could be a case study for conceptual alignment amongst Nigerian musicians, and beyond. Tega Ethan doesn’t sway from the topic. The eighteen-minute-long musical project is an enjoyable audio story told by a self-aware, although seriously insecure griot who seems to be feeling all the right things at the wrong time.
Ratings: 8/10
