Paolo Nutini - Sunny Side Up

For his second long playing effort Nutini has thrown in so much to the mix no one would fault you for trying to spot the kitchen sink in there. While These Streets showed he was equal parts pop tart, soul boy and apprentice folk troubadour, here we also get dark, spectral acoustica, parping swing beats and enough jump up ska to get Toots and the Maytals dashing off missives to their lawyers.

For all this disparity, again when his old man croon and growl binds with the material — most of which is self penned — there’s pure gold to be had. He remains strongest when he’s revisiting his soul idols Hathaway, Cooke and Redding but the delicate sweetness of ‘Candy’ and the heavy lidded paen to that sticky green stuff ‘Coming Up Easy’ are as sweet as you could wish for. A mess but a success.

(Atlantic)