Inside the mind of many artistes is a realistic pursuit of desires upon which they set the course of their music. Yet for Omah Lay, the mind is an unbridled realm, a black hole possibly, but with a three-way street to salvation. These paths: marijuana, sex and the spiritual he knows, will only lead him to a temporal happy ending. But as an artist whose existential musings made a standout in contemporary Nigerian music, he dances around these paths on his new album Clarity Of Mind. Only to satisfy the demons he once wrestled with on his breakout single “Bad Influence.”

The inner tormentors that made him a restless wanderer on his debut album Boy Alone still warp him on his sophomore album. But his self-consciousness isn’t in fighting back to regain sanity; if anything, the artiste born Stanley Omah Didia doesn’t want to be saved. Yet beneath the 11-tracked project is an outcry for help with his demons, which he has now become one with. So he calls on God, but unlike a Catholic priest, he chooses to exorcise his spirit with strains of weed and women.

On Omah Lay’s Clarity Of Mind, he is as introspective as he was on his previous project, but more honest, open, and vulnerable, making his songs a soothing tale. With an ingenious production from long-term collaborators Lekaa Beats and Tempoe, he stamps his signature sound and forays into sonic experimentation. The first half of the album repeatedly dances around cannabis, carnality and God, while the album closes with a sudden realisation of his self-worth.

“Igbo is telling on me / I like what it’s saying, make I no stop,” he opens the album with a nod to marijuana. The track “Artificial Happiness” delivers a mid-tempo, minimalistic production layered over a melancholy musing. It’s a stoner’s anthem where he equates the feelings of a joint to an ephemeral happiness despite the addiction, as if it were a covenant.

But on the highly melodious “Jah Jah Knows,” he resorts to the heavens upon his state of uncertainty. “Everything I been know before / You can see me, I don’t know no more.” Despite the success that surrounds him, he is not ashamed to admit he still feels lost. “Tell me who be policeman, if it wasn’t for uniform / only Jah Jah Knows.” But in search for direction and to claim his self-identity, he turns to God, whom he believes only knows a man’s true existence. The production, marked by African rhythms, piano motifs, and guitar riffs, stands out in a way that doesn’t mask the openness.

Yet for an artiste who constantly yearns for freedom, he finds himself drawn to cannabis again in an attempt for escapism. So on “Canada Breeze,” he wraps his affection for the intense feeling in an esoteric embrace. The melodies are modestly impressive, covering for the lax lyricism that captures his resort to cure his emotional detachment.

One of the recurring themes on the project takes a standpoint on “Water Spirit,” a track that glorifies the euphoria of lust. The singer has always been direct about his sexcapades, so on this track, he casually ascribes these intimate moments to the fluidity of water. The song’s immersive chorus and production cannot hide the rawness that hovers over his writing.

The previously released “Don’t Love Me” takes a cohesive stance in the project, where he admits to the whims of his vices. Unlike the preceding track, he is brutally honest about his intent despite his insatiable lust. The melancholic song is a conflict between love in itself and making love. Evidence that while he’s conscious of his brokenness, he chooses not to free himself from the strings, especially since Igbo and Hennessy cannot save him. Perhaps, he doesn’t know how to.

Still, he brings himself under the heart-to-heart mid-tempo track, “Coping Mechanism,” the track’s most notable highlight featuring new signee Elmah. If the previous track sees him emotionally detached, this track offers him a safe space to be himself and lean into his muse. The song’s chorus, delivered by Elmah’s mellifluous vocals and reflective lyrics, covers Omah Lay’s inexpressiveness. The cadence frantically changes with the advent of “Julia,” a folk-rock-inspired mashup that stirs the course of the latter half of the album. A maestro at wrapping loneliness in melodic anthems, Omah Lay pulls his desire for the company of his former love interest, but with a subtle restraint. Unlike hit singles like “Soso” and “Understand,” the lyrics for this track don’t offer an immersive listening experience for the angst of his loneliness. Yet the song’s uptempo, cinematic bass production, engineered by Tempoe, places listeners in a state of gyration.

“Waist” knocks in, maintaining the same cadence but offering less thematic cohesion to the entire composition. “Mary Go Round” begins the closing of the album. Like the preceding tracks, including “Water Spirit,” he dazzles around familiar themes, but with a philosophical narrative that almost feels more than mundane.

The project’s poster track, “I Am”, storms in as if to erase emotions he once felt. On the arrival of this up-tempo track, he awakens to his self-worth while declaring himself the greatest — a narrative he had been holding upon the era of the project. While the track’s shallow writing doesn’t do justice to his chest-thumping statement, the dance production is a stellar show from Lekaa Beats. Though the cadence is maintained with “Holy Ghost,” it’s no better arranged as a bonus track.

Bringing the album to a close with the Tempo-produced “Amen,” Omah Lay beckons to God in surrender for the uncomplicated life that has gripped him from the onset of the project. While previous tracks have seen him resort to the spiritual, here he honestly makes a prayerful request, recognising his own helplessness. “All I want for the rest of my life is some peace of mind / and enough money to purchase anything wey I wan buy,” he still clings to financial glory on the 3-step and highlife groovy production.

On Omah Lay’s Clarity Of Mind, the project offers less thematic cohesion that captures the essence of the album title, but continues the path he once set on Boy Alone. Despite his clinging to the spiritual, his reliance on weed and lust are repeated themes that do not offer a lasting comfort to his wandering mind. If anything, it doesn’t prove his problems are resolved, but it shows that he has accepted to dance their tunes.