Tiwayo is a wealth of contradictions: a young Frenchman singing classic soul tunes in the world-weary voice of an old bluesman.

I love a bit of retro soul. Especially when I don’t know at the point of discovery that it’s not a long lost oldie but a brand new tune.

So it is with this song, Sunshine Lady, sung by a young man called Tiwayo, who is not only a contemporary artist but he’s also white. And French.

I discovered him thanks to this song catching the highly-attuned ears of Craig Charles, who played it on his Funk & Soul radio show last Saturday.

Born in a Paris banlieue and a wanderer by nature, he has busked everywhere from the Paris Metro to the streets of the USA, Haiti and Europe, absorbing influences along the way.

The ones that really stuck were Mississippi blues and Memphis soul, blended with elements of gospel and folk.

It was in Memphis that he was given the nickname “The Young Old” from an old Cajun bluesman, encapsulating the contrast of his contemporary/retro vibe as well as between his youthful features and the gravelly undercurrent in his vocals.

Back in France, he took the initials of that nickname – TYO – and spelt them out again phonetically to create his stage name Tiwayo.

Although I haven’t heard him before, he’s already released two albums, his 2019 debut The Gypsy Dream, on the Blue Note label, and Desert Dream.

This tune comes from his imminent third album, Outsider, recorded in Austin, Texas.