Tiwayo - Outsider (Record Kicks) [Soul]

Tiwayo shouldn't need any introduction to TSMM's followers, with both his 2019 debut and recent "I've Got To Travel Alone" and "Up For Soul" singles, garnering coverage on the blog. For the new album, he hopped on a plane over to soul and funk Don Adrián Quesada's Austin studio to do what he does best - digging deep inside for those raw, classic soul vibes. I mean, even the cover on the album looks authentic vintage soul, probably helped by teaming up with the Milanese keepers of the twentieth-century black music flame - Record Kicks.

A steady beat and heart-wrenching piano refrain set the album up perfectly on opener, "I've Got To Travel Alone", the perfect vehicle for Tiwayo's raw, bluesy, soul voice that digs about as deep as you can go. Throw in some classy strings and blues guitar and you have an enduring slice of classic soul that sounds sixty years old, and soul compliments don't come higher than that. "Sunshine Lady" then gives proceedings an uptempo Motown injection - the perky guitar picking providing the warm rays for this special lady. Next up is the string-heavy, downtempo, heart-twisting electric-blues guitar vibe of "Daddy Was Born With The Blues" - the type of song I can't help feeling is what our boy does best. It's a tearjerker if you're in that sort of mood.

And so the album continues with not a modern twist in sight - wisely playing to our boy's strengths. Look out for the uptempo funkiness of, "Up For Soul" which would raise the dead onto the dance floor; the feel-good boogaloo of, "Electric Spanish"; the slow smooching lover's soul duet "Unchained Lover's" with the always wonderful Kendra Morris; the unashamed throwback blues of "Mama Gave Me The Will", and the stomping party-rocking album closing, "Peace Makers". The album is a real trip back in time, and as good a vintage soul homage as you'll hear this year.

---

Playlist Companion

Find Tiwayo in the Slow Soul Playlist.