Pascale Son’s vocal delivery is a cornerstone of the album’s "deep" quality. She treats her voice like a lead instrument, utilizing wordless phonemes , sighs, and precise warbles rather than standard lyrical narratives.
"Boma" refers to a port town along the Congo River , which explains the album's iconic cover art featuring hippopotamuses in a river.
In local dialect, "Bomma" (often spelled with two 'm's on the album's rear sleeve) means grandmother . This personal connection is literal; the grandmother of band members sits front and center in the photo on the back cover. Musical Depth and "Canterbury" Influence
While based in Brussels, Cos is frequently associated with the due to their whimsical, jazz-inflected sound.
Beneath the playful surface, the "deep" intent of Viva Boma touches on the relationship between humanity and the natural world.
The record features "martial, Zeuhl-like rhythms" mixed with gentle, laid-back jazz-rock. This creates a hypnotic, almost trance-like experience that reviewers describe as "Pink Floyd at 45 rpm".