Review Summary: Charming Scot pulls out all the stops and improves drastically on second album.
Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini has done a lot with what little time he has had on earth thus far. Along with the release of his debut album, 2006’s These Streets, at the ripe old age of nineteen, he has scored a European hit single (“Jenny Don’t Be Hasty”), an illustrious background music feature on Scrubs (“Last Request”), and even has the epic honour of having opened for a reformed Led Zeppelin. With all this on your CV, you’d almost be forgiven for being big-headed. But Nutini, now twenty-two, is just thankful for the simple things in life; and essentially, that’s what his second album,
Sunny Side Up, is all about. It’s a relaxed, fun-loving record with a sweetened blend of pop, folk, reggae and a little bit of rock & roll for good measure.
Leading the musical parade throughout (which, at any given time, can feature horns, harmonica, jazz brushes, a choir or a flugelhorn) is Nutini’s distinctive and very thickly-accented vocals. Whilst it could easily be defined as an acquired taste with all of his over-accentuations and oddly-shaped pronunciations, it predominantly manages to give the songs a cheery sense of character and idiosyncratic flair. His vocals range from trying out his raspy, vibrato-laden howl on bouncy opener “10/10” or the 1940s jazz-swing of “Pencil Full of Lead”, to wistfully crooning with depth beyond his years on the Donovan-esque “Tricks of the Trade” and soulful single “Candy”. Nutini has grown from a likable singer to an occasionally lovable one; a feat that few of his contemporaries can fulfil with just two records to their name.
Musically, Nutini and his backing band, The Vipers, have taken the philosophy of throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. A worthy risk, considering how refreshingly versatile the album’s sound is. There’s elements of countless musical trends and styles from his native Scotland (the gorgeous instrumental “Chamber Music”) and from overseas (“High Hopes” has a charming Hawaiian and Caribbean groove to it) which give the impression that the musicians have gone into creating this record with an open mind and plenty of ambition. Of course, this kind of no-genre-too-sacred flexibility can turn out to be a double edged sword on
Sunny Side Up, resulting in some awkward transitions. Arguably the strongest example of this is when the boppy “Pencil Full of Lead” segues into the Motown waltz of “No Other Way”. It’s somewhat akin to the classic teen movie scene where the DJ plays “the slow song” and the teenagers awkwardly pair up to slow dance. Also, there are moments on the record where Nutini doesn’t sound entirely comfortable with what’s going on.
Even still, there’s a lot here to be positive about.
Sunny Side Up is two steps forward for Paolo as a musician and songwriter. If his achievements seem impressive now, just wait five years and chances are he will have tripled them if the potential shown here is anything to go by.
