Ideally, passion should be a prerequisite for artists. At least that’s what Tim Lyre believes. “I know it sounds cliché, but the truth is that you have to be passionate about doing it,” the Nigerian singer, rapper, and producer tells OkayAfrica. “You have to genuinely want it to be able to persevere and be consistent even when things are not going so well. I think that’s been most important, for me anyway.”

Lyre’s whole embrace of the process and dedication to creating music that can be appreciated for its singular vision is apparent in its output. Earlier this month, he released his third album, SPIRAL, a balmy soundscape featuring lilting neo-soul cuts, gently smoldering pop tunes, and smooth rap-indented highlights. The genre-hopping, now a trademark, is tied together by profound expressions of longing, loving, personal joys and anxiety, the constant search for self-fulfillment, and more.

Where his previous albums, Worry < and MASTA, were snappy affairs with runtimes hovering around the half-hour mark, Lyre’s latest is a double-sided effort that runs a few minutes shy of an hour. That extension doesn’t translate into any adverse effects; if anything, SPIRAL is a seamless listen that is effortlessly engaging. It’s an opus that reflects the accrued refinement and mastery Lyre has earned over the years, with some of his earliest releases dating back nearly a decade.

Lyre was among the dozens of young Nigerian artists who took to SoundCloud as their preferred platform for spontaneous drops, spurred by the need to create music outside what was popular in the mainstream. Across his early catalogue, Lyre ran through styles of music with a sometimes scattered twitch, to regularly strong results, if not wholly compelling.

“I think it was around that Covid-19 period,” he says, referring to the lockdown months as the period things clicked into place for him as a versatile artist. “I guess everybody just had enough time to reflect in general, myself included. I was in the studio as well, so I had time to think about how I wanted to sound. I’m someone who likes to try different things, and I had a lot of time to figure out what I wanted to take on and put all these things together. I’m someone who always just wants to improve constantly.”

The early 2022 release of Worry < was a remarkable showcase of Lyre as an artist with an elevated grasp of his abilities as a versatile artist, a streak that extended to MASTA and is foundational to the excellence curated on SPIRAL. The Tim Lyre experience since his first album has shown an artist comfortable with spotlighting his romantic scars, laying bare his yearnings, openly exploring his ambitions, and giving voice to his fears. Along with his ability to croon soulfully, rap with poise, and even dip into patois, these thematic threads make for a deeply relatable artist.

“[Introspection] is a very key part of what I’m trying to do as a musician,” Lyre says. “My favorite artists that I listen to, my best quality about them is the fact that they’re just so honest and vulnerable in their music, a lot of the time. There’s no shame when they’re talking about certain things. People can relate to that as well because we are all human beings; we all kind of go through the same things, you know, even if your circumstances are different. So I try to make it a point to keep that honesty about myself as much as I can.”

On “Rocketship,” the second song on SPIRAL, Lyre shares a heady portrait of the aftermath of a breakup where anxiety intertwines with an overreliance on weed. On the similarly forlorn “Storytime” with UK-based indie soul singer BINA, he asks, “What’s the worth of a love/that never gave you any peace of mind/until the day that it died?” It’s the kind of lingering thought that remains when you sit long enough to sift through an experience properly.

The first side of the album, largely self-produced, is heavy-hearted, filled with ruminative songs about finding perspective through the difficult weight of being jilted while also fighting for your dreams. The second side is lighter and more jovial without losing emotional lustre, from the devotional confessions on the house-infused “OMD” to the money-minded, highlife-pop swing of “Economy” with rap duo Show Dem Camp.

SPIRAL earns cohesion from being purposefully broad, a distinction that extends to the dozen featured artists, all well-placed and integral to the listening experience. “I’m lucky because I now get to work with more artists, and I’ve always been a collaborative type of artist,” Lyre says. “I’m also someone that just listens to a lot of music in general, so I feel like I know where things should go in terms of who should be on the feature.”

The collaborative spirit is aided in part by Lyre’s longstanding tilt towards community; MOJO AF, DAP the Contract, and Joyce Olong are frequent collaborators dating back several years. Meanwhile, Lyre credits a handful of the features to connections made by Outer South, the London and Johannesburg-based indie record label Lyre has been working with since his first album.

SPIRAL is “the biggest thing” Lyre and Outer South have done yet, putting more resources behind this album than his previous releases, seeing the traction the artist has slowly built up with a growing catalogue of quality releases. Those increased efforts include a headline show in late September at London’s Camden Assembly.

“I definitely want to perform my music as far as I possibly can, and just keep making good, quality music and collaborating with artists,” Lyre says as a ballpark answer for what he’s looking forward to next. He obviously wouldn’t mind scoring the kind of huge hit song(s) that vaults him from rising niche favorite to popular star, but it’s not an achievement he’s looking to force.

“With enough momentum and consistency, we can definitely get there. These things take time. It might happen one day, and people will think I’m an overnight sensation. I’m genuinely interested in making great music, and as long as that’s working out, I’m happy with life.”