If something good passes nearby, it’s well worth ignoring boundaries to have a look and a listen. Released on April 10th, Outsider is the new album from Tiwayo. He’s a Paris-born songwriter and singer in, broadly, the soul genre.
Outsider, appropriately enough, is at the edges of folking.com territory. Tiwayo has busked around the world, taking in the blues, soul and gospel roots that have shaped his music. On a trip to Memphis an older Cajun Bluesman was, I gather, struck by the contrast between his youthful face and his gravelly soulful voice and therefore nicknamed him ‘The Young Old’. This led Tiwayo to take the initials TYO and, with minimal tweaking, name himself Tiwayo.
After a couple of well-received albums, Tiwayo had disappeared from the spotlight until Adrian Quesada of the band Black Pumas listened to his demos and produced this album. Tiwayo is supported by members of the Black Pumas, a guitarist (Doyle Bramhall II) who’s played with Clapton and Waters (the lead on ‘Electric Spanish’ first grabbed my attention because of its energy, but there’s also a lovely languid bluesy lead on ‘Daddy Was Born With The Blues’ and the remarkable vocal of Kendra Morris on a duet (‘Unchained Lovers’).
You can, in the video below, get a sense of Tiwayo’s style in ‘I’ve Got To Travel Alone’ – melodic introduction, harmony, and then the vocal kicks in; on a track which sings about the artist’s need to follow their own path … whatever, it’s simultaneously both smooth and raw.
The opener is followed by ‘Sunshine Lady’, a different style which is arranged to joyful perfection. The third track is ‘Daddy Was Born With The Blues’ – this time slower bluesy perfection; this is music to be performed and listened to at 2:00 am in either an elegant club or a seedy club but – definitively – nothing in between.
‘My House Is Your Home’ raises the spirits again, soul tinged with gospel. ‘Up For Soul’ follows funkily; ‘Electric Spanish’ and ‘Unchained Lovers’ are referenced above. In the vocal performance, in the simple arrangement and in the listening, there is awe in ‘Dark Skies’.
The album rolls to its penultimate close with a classic slow soul track, ‘Love Of My Life’ and then finishes with the Wigan Casino energy of the ‘Peace Makers’.
Sometimes, it’s great thing to go outside usual and familiar boundaries; Outsider is one of those occasions. The album has a range of soul, blues and gospel influences, it has great arrangements and playing – and it has Tiwayo’s inimitable vocal on his own songs.
If you’re in Paris/northern France, the website gives details of several launch gigs in the next few weeks.
Mike Wistow
Artist’s website: https://tiwayo.com
‘I’ve Got To Travel Alone’ – official video:
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