On paper, mercurial producer Leriq and box-less singer-songwriter Tomi Thomas is an intriguing combination. In reality, they are. Illusions, a six-song EP with production from Leriq and vocal performances by Tomi, is a testament to the unmistakable synergy between both musicians. And with each listen, you can tell it’s still burgeoning.
Leriq and Tomi are at a somewhat curious phase in their respective careers: both artists are relatively known quantities in terms of their abilities, but both artists are in transition. Well known as Burna Boy’s main co-conspirator on the “Ye” singer’s introductory mixtape and debut album, as well the architect behind releases by Aristokrat records artists Ozone and Mojeed, Leriq has struggled to find a kindred spirit to match the kinetic sprawl of his compositions. Even in getting in front of the mic on his recent EP Luv.Wav, Leriq himself couldn’t keep pace with his far polished production chops. For Tomi, who’s shown dynamism since his days as a member of boy band LOS, the facets of his boundless energy has yet to be neatly tied into a bow, especially on wax – his live performances tend to showcase a more wholesome artist.
In a way, Illusions is the product of two creatives who were meant to collaborate, probably for happenstance sake, but certainly for artistic growth. On the EP, Leriq and Tomi match each other’s quirks delightfully, with Leriq happily indulging in experimentation and Tomi fitting into the provided canvas without wriggling. Enlisting the help of Efe Jazz on adorning live guitars, Leriq creates composite arrangements that are dually steady and loose, opening up multiple tributaries for Tomi to explore within each song. On “4dwknd,” cha-cha snares and tingling keys, accented by Spanish guitar riffs allows Tomi to start off with a breakneck patois singing, before finally settling into a more placid delivery. Over the course of the EP, Tempos slightly vary and genre barriers are crossed, but it’s the commitment to responsible musical adventurousness that ties it up quite neatly.
Also important here is the looming presence of a somewhat hazy storyline. From the pots and pan percussion driven opener “Tru the Fire,” where Tomi sings “my nights got darker since you’ve gone/assess the damages in my soul” with a tightened chest, it feels as though Tomi is tracing through the hairline crack of a broken, if complicated, relationship on Illusions. Over semi-reggae bop of “All for Love,” Tomi expresses regret quite vividly, doling out lines like “you scratched my back/now you push me to the world” through clenched teeth and a heart half submerged in pain. By “#InstaChewies,” the fleeting physical arrangement on “4dwknd” becomes a burden to one party. The trace is there, but the picture is fragmented. Regardless, there’s way more to like about Illusions than there is to critique. The music is too real, at least viscerally, to deny.