Tomi Thomas has spent five years doing something increasingly radical in modern music by taking his time.
The Lagos born singer-songwriter is officially back with In The Time It Takes To Bloom, his first project since 2021’s Hopeless Romantic. Five years is a lifetime in pop, especially in an era where artists can drop an album before the last single has finished trending. For Thomas, however, the silence feels less like an absence and more like incubation.
A founding figure in Nigeria’s alternative music movement through LOS, Thomas has always operated slightly outside the obvious lane. His music has moved through Afrobeats, Soul, R&B, House and Dancehall, with a restless curiosity that makes genre labels feel more like loose suggestions.
In 2024, he began reopening the door with “Seeing Is Believing,” describing it as the start of an exciting run of music and teasing more collaborations. He also spoke about creating from a place of greater peace and freedom, while promising “a lot of surprises” sonically.
Now the bloom has arrived!
The 5 track EP features Ghanaian heavyweights M.anifest and Efya, connecting Thomas’ Lagos roots to a wider West African musical conversation. And that is what makes this comeback interesting. In The Time It Takes To Bloom does not feel like Thomas trying to reclaim the past.
It feels like he is finally ready to reveal what all that time was for. The comeback is here. The next chapter might be even bigger.
