Oh boy.

When I looked at Tyler, The Creator’s Instagram account, @felicathegoat, three weeks ago, I flipped. He had posted a minute-long video previewing new music, which I’d been awaiting for two years. I listened all the way through. Then again. I spent hours browsing the internet for fan theories, finding no credible information. When Tyler officially announced the album, titled “CHROMAKOPIA,” I called a friend immediately. We made plans to have a listening party just like the one we had for Tyler’s 2021 “Call Me If You Get Lost.”

The release of “CHROMAKOPIA” was somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. Tyler’s rollout even consisted of massive green trucks driving around the United States. At the same time, he was releasing snippets on his YouTube with a black and green color scheme. His color palette for the project includes just brown, dark, and muted green; the only real splash of bright color is his green, military-esque uniform.

Tyler, who writes, produces, and arranges all his music, tends to focus his narrative-driven albums around specific characters. For 2019’s “IGOR,” Tyler created “Igor,” a dark, villainous version of himself based on the character Ygor from the “Frankenstein” films. Tyler’s IGOR is a young man caught in a love triangle with a male love interest. For 2021’s “Call Me If You Get Lost,” Tyler constructed Sir Tyler Baudelaire, a character inspired by the dynamic between the Baudelaire orphans in Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” book series. On “CHROMAKOPIA,” Tyler reintroduces himself, this time as St. Chroma: an ambiguous military-associated figure Tyler hasn’t told us much about yet.

There are many theories surrounding St. Chroma. One is that the name “Chroma” is a nod to Chroma the Great, the Conductor of the Sunrise and Sunset from the “The Phantom Tollbooth.” Another is that Tyler is literally referencing the idea of “chroma,” or the intensity of a color separated from the muted tones of white or gray.

Because St Chroma’s name is drawn from the word chroma itself, these theories draw the same conclusion: Tyler is using the metaphor of color to illustrate the way music allows him to feel his complicated feelings. Maybe it’s the escape of his colorful and multifaceted identity from his upbringing without a father. Maybe it’s something else. It doesn’t matter. The point is simple: “CHROMAKOPIA” is a vulnerable exploration of the way Tyler is wrestling with age as he grows artistically.

“Hey Jane” is a song about a pregnancy scare, in which Tyler initiates a conversation between himself and his lover (who he plays) about what raising a child would mean for both of them. “Like Him” opens with Tyler’s mother talking about Tyler’s physical similarities to his father, an absentee dad who abandoned Tyler at a young age. Although his mother’s reminiscence is touching, Tyler is clearly struggling throughout the song with the fact that he is irreversibly connected to a person he doesn’t share a relationship with. On “Take Your Mask Off,” Tyler articulates his thoughts about aging and fatherhood more clearly: “Boy, you selfish as F***, that’s why you really scared of bein’ a parent/Boy, that therapy needed, I’d dare you to seek it but I’d lose a bet.” Musically, the album is Tyler’s best. I’ve already gotten backlash on this opinion, but I’ll stand by it. Between the tropical fantasies and braggadocio of “Call Me If You Get Lost” and the complicated love story of “IGOR,” it’s been a while since a Tyler project has been devoted to what’s been going on in his own life. I think “CHROMAKOPIA” sees Tyler finally feeling free to open up about his childhood and the way it’s affecting him as he grows into adulthood.