Posted on July 17, 2009 - by Ellie Crean

Side Up, Mr Nutini

Unlike some of his fellow popular singer-songwriters, Paolo Nutini has not just stuck to the same style of acoustic-based radio-friendly pop songs for his second album, “Sunny Side Up”. Instead, he has thrown a mixture of genres and influences together to come up with a record that sounds genuine and full of heart and soul.

Album opener “10/10” is a burst of happiness and is bound to get your foot tapping. This is due to the reggae feel and horns which are featured several times on the album (so much so on “Pencil Full of Lead” that it sounds like an outtake from the Jungle Book soundtrack).

Elsewhere, traditional Celtic and folk influences can be heard on tracks such as “High Hopes” due to the flute and harmonica used. However, the sound is strongest on “Chamber Music” which sounds like a traditional Scottish folk song written years ago.

There are some more straight – forward acoustic tunes however, such as first single “Candy” and “Growing Up Beside You”, where the influences are not as strong.

The only trouble with “Sunny Side Up” is that Nutini has tried to cram so many different ideas together that the songs sometimes seem to lack fluency as an album, for example “Chamber Music” and “10/10” could be from totally different records.

As the album title suggests, though, a common theme is hope, optimism and appreciation. This is heard most strongly on “Pencil Full of Lead” – “nothing’s gonna bring me down” – and Simple Things – “if you love the life you live you’ll get a lot more done”. However, this idea is less obvious on songs such as “Keep Rolling” due to its slow tempo and haunting harmonies, but the lyrics are uplifting.

Though styles and ideas sometimes seem confused, “Sunny Side Up” is an admirable album because you get the feeling that it was something that Nutini really wanted to do rather than what other people wanted or expected.

Paolo Nutini – “New Shoes”

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• Our last year of independent? (7)
• Indie O’Clock: Tiny Tide and Nothing Meets All (7)
• Funny Little Bunny (6)
• Christmas Indie Ep from Japan (6)