Balance EP is a beautifully curated timeline of a love story on the rocks. It is also a lesson on what album sequencing should be - not just a roll-out of random songs, but an alignment of sonic and topical cohesion/progression. On the title-track, Jess ETA tells a story of imbalance in love between him and his estranged lover. 

He sings that he has always been hers, but she has never been his. From the tone of things, ETA is ready to get back into the love story that crashes on ‘Puppet’ if they can find a ‘Balance’ through which love can blossom. And oh, ‘Puppet’ is by far the best song on Balance EP. 

Firstly, ETA’s vocal texture is downbeat compared to other tracks and it appropriately projects the pain he conjures with his pen. Jess ETA’s character had been the victim of a manipulative lover. 

Although we were not to find out the actual crux of the break-up until ‘Balance,’ he sings, “Loving you is hard to do again… I don’t wanna be your puppet anymore” as he deals with heartbreak from the love he had gushed over on the opening three tracks. 

That Reggae-Fusion production as defined by its percussion, mixing and legato melodies. In parts, the production is both dramatic and dense. What a song. ‘Odyssey (Interlude)’ is an R&B track accentuated by flimsy piano chords. It also carries the baton of pain that ETA wields on ‘Puppet.’ 

Balance EP is then a mirror of the atypical millennial/Gen Z love story where there’s a preponderance of love to one side/gender than the other. 

Balance EP is also unrepentantly African in sound, detail and aesthetic. Even though this writer would have loved Jess ETA to use landmarks, cities and cultural references as symbols to bounce authenticity off, the artist still did himself some justice with his pen game and vision. 

He also sings in pidgin on ‘Resistance’ as he surrenders himself to intoxicating love from his “beautiful addiction” with the “body” of “fire.” That female contributor should take a bow - who is she? She basically added the needed female aspect to the conversation as she promises to handle all the fantasies in ETA’s mind. 

Her contribution also renders sGaWD’s verse - though amazing as expected - a luxury that could have been avoided. On ‘Pull Me Close,’ ETA sings like a South-South loverboy whose love language is physical touch. It also feels like the character he embodies is obliging the female voice on ‘Resistance’ as regards her promise to handle all his fantasies. 

Those guitars feel cut from Highlife music, but infused into Dancehall percussion with Afro-pop detail. To his credit, ETA also manages to showcase his ‘Nigerian-ness.’ Sometimes, he sings in Yoruba, other times in Pidgin and other times with the accent of a South-Easterner or a man from the South-South. 

‘More’ didn’t really come alive until its hook, but sonically, it mirrors ‘Pull Me Close.’ Lyrically, it sees ETA and Zarion Uti make solemn promises of distinctive love to women. “Make I dey your body like cologne, or is it because I’m unknown? Girl, very soon I go blow…” is quite the pocket. 

Regardless of its imperfection, Balance EP is a commendable EP. 

Ratings: /10

• 0-1.9: Flop

• 2.0-3.9: Near fall

• 4.0-5.9: Average

• 6.0-7.9: Victory

• 8.0-10: Champion

Pulse Rating: /10

8.0 - Champion